


Freedom Fighters

by NatLannister



Series: Freedom Fighters Series [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 05:02:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 82,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3475433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatLannister/pseuds/NatLannister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>25 years ago the world was taken over by the ruthless group known as the Fearsome Five. They rule the world with an iron fist. 2 years after the rule began Paul and Simon started a rebel group called Freedom Fighters and discovered a prophecy stating 5 young men will be born who will have the power to destroy the Fearsome Five. Paul and Simon set out to find these boys and train them before the Fearsome Five destroy the boys and rule Earth forever. Join one direction in this epic superhero tale with romance aka zianourry and lots of fighting and cool superpowers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

Paul sat on the couch in his apartment eyes glued to the Television. His eyes must be playing tricks on him. There was no way he just watched the white house blow up. Landing in front of the camera was one of the Fearsome Five members. He stared directly at the camera with an evil smirk. The eyes of the man were black just like a shark’s uncaring and soulless. “This is only the beginning”, he yelled, pointing at the burning building that meant stability and safety in America. The Fearsome Five member through back his head howling in laughter. “I’m coming for Britain next”, he said before flying away. His laughter could still be heard on the tv.

Shutting off the television Paul began pacing the room. This could not be happening. The world was going to absolute shit and his country was about to be attacked. Paul needed to find Simon and then get the hell out of Britain. Simon was Paul’s roommate and best friend. Picking up his cellphone with shaky arms Paul dialed Simon’s number.

“Come on. Pick up, pick up” Paul mumbled to himself as he walked around the couch for t 20th time. If he continued to pace around this much he would leave a trail in his nice rug. On the last ring Paul heard ”Hello”.

Paul released the breath he didn’t even know he was holding, “You need to get home now Simon. The Fearsome Five are on their way here.” “Shit. Okay I’m coming home, pack up our things we need to leave the city. I’ll be home in 5 minutes” And with that Simon hung up.

Paul ran to the bedrooms and grabbed whatever he thought was important which was clothes, food, some money, and pictures. He knew he was forgetting something important when the front door barged open and out of breath Simon appeared. “You ready”,Simon gasped trying to catch his breath. Paul silently nodded his head and handed Simon the backpack he packed for his best friend. Simon unzipped the bag and quickly assessed the contents of the bag. He looked his friend in the eye and nodded with approval.

Both men walked out of the apartment. Paul sighed shutting the door, knowing this would be the last time he would see his home. “I’ll miss you buddy”, he whispered, rubbing his hand on the door. “Let’s head to the woods”, Simon suggested opening the car door. Paul said nothing climbing into the passenger seat of the car. Simon turned on the ignition and high tailed it to the woods ignoring the speed limit and traffic laws.

Peering through the rear-view mirror Simon watched in horror as Big Ben caught on fire. The Fearsome Five had arrived in Britain and were ready to destroy anything in their path. Simon and Paul sat in silence, listening to the screams coming from the city. Tears streamed down Paul’s face as he rocked himself back and forth.

Simon clenched his fist in anger and made a promise to Paul “Those bastards will pay I’ll make sure of that. They will pay. Every single one of them.”

The men arrived at the mouth of the woods and climbed out of the car. Grabbing their bags they headed inside the pitch black forest, knowing it was safer than being in the city.The men left the light and were greeted with complete and utter darkness. “I’m scared”, Paul whimpered. “I know buddy, but we need to be brave”, Simon replied grabbing Paul’s hand and squeezing it.

2 Years Later

Paul and Simon had started a community in the woods. Survivors from the attack on Britain flocked to the woods for safety and were met by Paul and Simon. The men wanted to fight against the Fearsome Five and reclaim the world. Not much was known about the ruthless group other than their names and powers. It took 2 years for Paul and Simon to get that much information about the group. Ed aka the Banshee had the power of flight and sonic waves.Taylor aka Heartbreaker could control the weather and sing people asleep or kill them if she sang at a certain frequency. Josh aka Musclehead had super strength, invulnerability, flight, and heat vision. Katy aka The Vision could make see whatever she wanted them to see and had acid breath. And finally there was Justin aka The Shifter who had the power of material absorption and teleportation. The five villains have killed millions of people over the years.

Paul still had nightmares when the Fearsome Five murdered the queen. It was a rainy day when Paul and Simon decided to run in the city to get supplies and recruit more people to join their rebel group called the freedom fighters. The streets were filled with weeping people. Some people had burnt marks covering their faces others were holding bleeding limbs. All the TVs switched on to the same station. Ed walked up to the camera doing his famous smirk. “Ladies and gentlemen do I have show for you. Today on the Fearsome Five we have two special guests. Alright everyone put your hands together for the queen of England and the president of the United States” Ed snickered.

Taylor came up behind Ed throwing the president on the ground. He was bloody and had bruises covering his body. The president’s mouth was gagged and people could see he was shaking. Justin came over with the queen or what used to be her. The queen was unrecognizable with her swollen and cut up face. Josh landed in front of the and looked at Ed before turning his head back to the camera and screaming “Say goodbye to your precious leaders.” And with that Josh snapped the president’s neck and Katy spit acid on the queen’s face. All that could be heard was the president’s neck cracking and the queen’s face sizzling. Once the TVs shut off the people in the street began panicking and screaming. Paul and Simon quickly left the city before people went crazy. They hadn’t been to the city since.

Paul closed his eyes, trying to erase that horrible memory from his head. Running his hand through his greasy hair Paul went up to Simon, who was standing next to a table looking at a map of Britain. Taking a deep breath Paul squeaked “Simon we need to go back to our apartment”. Breathing out in frustration Simon asked “Why?”. “I need to get the box.” “Why, Paul? Why now?”

“Just hear me out” Paul said pulling up a chair so Simon could sit down. Taking in a breath Paul revealed “Okay so the week before the attack the box started glowing. It freaked me and I didn’t want you to see it so I kinda hid the box in my closet and forgot about it. My dad always told me the box was special and would open when the time was right. He said I would know when it was ready. I didn’t know what that meant until yesterday. Last night I dreamed of the box. I saw it glowing where I left it wanting to be opened. It was calling me saying it knew how to defeat the Fearsome Five. We have to get it.” Paul panted out the last sentence now out of breath. He looked at Simon with puppy dog eyes, hoping his friend would agree to go back to their old apartment.

Waiting a couple seconds to let everything sink in Simon stood up and stated “We will go out tomorrow to retrieve the box, but the two of us. I’m not risking the lives of anyone else. The last run we lost four people to scavengers.”

Relief washed over Paul as he pulled Simon in for a hug. 

The next day Simon and Paul left at the crack of dawn in one of the 15 cars, they had collected over the past 2 years. The car ride was quiet since the radio stations were destroyed. Driving towards the ruined city Paul saw collapsed buildings all along the road. The air was filled with dust and ash making it hard to see the blue sky. Bones littered the streets, making crunching sounds when the car drove over them. Whenever there was a crunch Paul would flinch in disgust. Pulling up to the apartment complex Paul jumped out of the car. It was already decided Simon would wait in the car in-case anyone tried stealing it. 

Paul walked up to the familiar door and tried to imagine life before the Fearsome Five attacked. Turning the doorknob, he realized it was locked. Chuckling to himself, he wondered why he locked it in the first place. There was nothing vulnerable to steal. Kicking the door open Paul stepped inside his old home. Dust filled the air since the door had not been used for so long. Paul made his way to his bedroom being filled with memories of him and Paul staying up late drinking beer, watching the football game, talking about their days at work. Paul missed the good old days. Opening his closest Paul found the box and started to leave the apartment.

“Goodbye old friend” Paul whimpered closing the door silently behind him.

Paul decided to wait until he and Simon got back to the camp before he opened the box. Arriving at the forest the 2 men headed in going to the tent where Simon stayed. “Okay let’s open this stupid box. Better be worth the gas I wasted”, Simon jokingly said, cracking a small smile that did not reach his eyes.

Opening the box both men were blinded by a blue light. The light began to dim after a few seconds. Paul and Simon waited for their eyes to adjust before looking inside the box. Paul saw one piece of paper and sighed fearing this trip really was a waste of time. Simon grabbed the paper and began reading it. His mouth fell open in awe making Paul curious of what it said. “What does it say Simon” spoke Paul breaking the silence.

Simon cleared his thought and read “Five boys will be born. Each with a power that can help defeat the Fearsome Five and help fix the Earth. Each will be a different age and come from different cities. Find them and train them. They are your only hope of saving the Earth.”

Simon smiled before speaking again “Do you know what this means. The Fearsome Five have a storm coming. Now we have a mission.”

“And what is that”

“Locating those 5 boys before the Fearsome Five finds out about them.” 

And with that the search for the 5 saviours began but little did they know the first one was being born that day.


	2. Louis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of how Louis was discovered

Johannah Poulston and Troy Austin were married three years before the attack. Once the world started falling apart the couple decided to leave the city. In the big cities people fought for food. Scavengers were everywhere and would murder whole families for a loaf of bread. They needed to find somewhere safe to live and start a life again. The caves seemed like the best option. They were far from the city and the Fearsome Five never checked caves for people.

Louis Tomlinson was born in a dark cave by Johannah Poulston and Troy Austin. The baby lived a sad life moving from cave to cave hiding from the Fearsome Five. Life was miserable for the cave dwellers. They never saw the sunlight and lived with rats and bugs crawling on them while they slept. The food was always wet and mushy and the water they drank was a murky color. Louis played with the other children in the cave never leaving the sight of his parents. Stories were told of kids who went exploring and never came back.

The boy’s parents knew their kid was special. Louis was not scared of the rats, but instead played with them. The rats normally bit the children and stole food, but with Louis they were kind. The animals snuggled with the boy when he went to bed and brought him pieces of their food. Johannah was amazed of her child. 

Troy looked at a sleeping Lou and sighed, running his through his knotty hair “Do you think something is wrong with Louis. Like maybe nuclear waste messed him up.”

Rolling her eyes Johannah went to her husband and smirked, saying “Nothing is wrong with our child Troy. He is special. Louis is god sent gift. I think he will save the world.”

“Let’s just go to bed.” Troy suggested laying down on the other side of Louis. Nodding her head Johannah climbed next to her husband resting her head on his chest. 

Louis came running over to his mom and dad practically bouncing in excitement. “Look what I found” he yelled showing a seed he picked.

“Thats great sweety. How about we go outside and grab some soil and a pot to put it in.” Johannah hummed grabbing Louis’s hand. Troy grabbed the other and they swung Louis around. The caves erupted with laughter and glee. After retrieving a pot and soil, the seed was planted.

Troy wondered how Louis found a seed and what the flower would be. He didn’t think the plant would grow, though since there was no sunlight in the cave and clear water to give the plant. Troy did not tell Lou though, because he didn’t want to break his kid’s heart. 

Johannah woke up to Louis jumping on top of her. Groaning she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Troy awake as well shooting daggers at his kid. “Lou you better have a good reason for waking me up”, Troy groaned while stretching his arms.

“Look at my plant. It grew.” Louis beamed bringing over the pot.

Troy was ready to roll his eyes when the pot caught his eye. Instead of it being empty the pot was filled with grass. Sprouting out was a 4 foot tall vine with fruit growing off of it. Troy’s mouth hung open. How the hell did this happen, he thought. Louis was something special. Maybe Freedom Fighters special.  
Pulling aside his wife who was filled with just the same amount of shock Troy whispered “Louis is definitely special. I think he might be one of the five the prophecy foretold. We have to contact the Freedom Fighters. Maybe he can help destroy the Fearsome Five.”

“He’s just a child Troy. He is only five years old.” Johannah screamed hitting her husband on the chest.

“Every kid has to grow up. I’m going to go contact the rebels. Keep Lou hidden.” Troy ordered as he left his cave.

Troy remembered when the cave became a community he was on the founders of it. Them representatives from the Freedom Fighters came. They told of a prophecy and to report anything. The people went to every community and spread the tale around the world. Freedom Fighters were everywhere. They wore special marks and spoke in codes. Troy went to the one of their bases to report his son. The rebel’s eyes filled with hope. This was their first sign that the prophecy was true. 

“Wait here sir. I’m going to go get our leader Simon. He is here visiting the base today.” the rebel said before scurrying off. Simon moved around the world recruiting new member for his cause getting a small army together. He was in a new base every week. 

“Hi Louis my a name is Simon and you are a very special boy” Simon spoke crouching on his arms so he could look the boy in the eyes. 

“I know”, Louis mumbled, turning away from the stranger.

“This is going to sound scary, but Louis you have powers. Powers that will help the human race defeat the Fearsome Five and reclaim the Earth.”

“Really!” Louis exclaimed.

“Yup but we have to come with me and my friends if you want to save the world.” Simon replied.

“Do mommy and daddy get to go too?” Lou asked.

Looking at the ground Simon whispered “No, but you have to come Louis. The whole world is depending on you.”

Louis agreed to go with Simon. He hugged his parents goodbye knowing he probably would never see them again. Johannah hugged her husband crying into his chest. Tears glistened down Troy’s face as he waved his child goodbye. “Make us proud” he whispered practically carrying his wife back inside the cave. 

Louis was the first of the five recruited for the prophecy. He was taken to a base in Scotland, where he would be trained by a woman named Caroline Watson.


	3. Harry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of how Harry was discovered by Simon

Anna Cox and Desmond Styles stayed in London when the Fearsome Five attacked. Remaining in their apartment they watched neighbors pack up suitcases and drive out of the city. People though got caught in traffic, which seemed to never move. Taking advantage of the traffic Katy and Ed began having fun with the cars. Ed used sonic waves to destroy the cars and squish the people inside. Katy danced around spitting acid on cars listening with glee as screams filled the air. Hearing skin making contact with acid was music to Katy’s ears. The sizzling and popping filled the night. Getting bored of picking off the cars one at a time Katy and Ed decided to speed things up. Ed flew into the air and then flew straight into the ground, causing a wave to open up the ground and swallow up the remaining cars. Grabbing Katy he flew her around other traffic jams allowing her to use her acid power to destroy the cars. Anna and Desmond heard screams and crying the whole night hiding in their bedroom closest hugging each other. 

The couple eventually left the apartment to get food and they were surprised to see the damage Ed and Katy caused. Holding each other’s hands for dear life Anna and Desmond headed to the grocery store. The stench of dead bodies hit the couple. Anna felt tears fall down her face from the smell. She gagged and Desmond rubbed her back trying to soothe her. Rotting bodies were everywhere, some were still in the car, and others were laid out around the street like they were trying to run away.

Anna and Desmond lived like this for years hiding out in their apartment until they needed more supplies. By this time Anna had given birth to a boy named Harry. He was only 6 months old when the couple decided they needed to get more baby food. Anna put Harry in a baby carrier and placed him on her back and hid the baby under a blanket. Today should have been like any other run, but it wouldn’t be. 

Walking down the street Desmond couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. He hoped he was being paranoid. Sadly Desmond knew he was right when he heard a crunch coming from the alley next to Anna. Desmond pulled out his gun and yelled “Run”.

Two figures appeared in front of the couple, two behind, and two on each side. Desmond couldn’t get a good look at any of their faces. They were dressed in black with bandanas covering their faces. Black sunglasses covered the people’s eyes. Each pulled out a weapon. Some had knives, others had guns, and some only had a pipe. Desmond knew they were scavengers. What scared the couple was how unpredictable scavengers were. Sometimes they killed from whom they stole from and the other times people were spared. 

Stepping forward Desmond put his hands in the air and cried “Please take whatever you want. Just don’t hurt us.”

One figure walked forward and Anna assumed he or she was the leader.

Holding out their hand they, yelled “Give me your backpack and gun. Now!”  
Desmond nodded and gave the leader his pack and weapon. Unzipping the pack the leader inspected the bag. Nodding their head in approval the bag was given to another member of the group. Desmond’s gun was now being under the leader’s shirt. “I want the lady’s bag now.”

Anna shook her head no. She was not letting these scavengers touch her Harry. 

Breathing out in frustration the leader walked straight over to Anna and took out her knife. Anna felt the wind get knocked out of her when the knife was stabbed in her stomach. Pulling out the knife the leader stabbed again and again. Blood dripped out of Anna’s mouth as she fell to her knees. Blood was gushing out of four stab wounds. She tried to cover the wounds but it was no use because the blood pouring out between her fingers. “Please stop” Anna begged, putting up her hands in surrender. 

“No one ever says no to me bitch” the leader responded, taking her knife and stabbing Anna one final time this time in the heart.

Desmond watched in horror as Anna smacked the ground. The life left her eyes and her chest stopped moving. A giant puddle surrounded Anna as her eyes closed for the final time. The leader pulled her knife out causing blood to splatter out. 

Desmond felt a surge of anger and charged towards Anna’s murder. He screamed as he opened his arms to tackle the killer to the ground. Inches away from his prize a gunshot rang in the air. The leader watched the man’s head explode. Brain matter flew in the air hitting the killer in the face. The dead body hit the ground and blood oozed out of the guy’s head. He was unrecognizable since he pretty much missing the back of his head. 

Wiping off their face the leader groaned “Next time you shoot can you make sure I’m further away. I would rather not get covered in a stranger’s brain matter.”

The leader took off the bandana revealing a young woman. “Let’s check the ladies backpack to see what she was hiding.” the leader suggested making her way over the slain woman. 

“What the hell is this” she screamed lifting the blanket off the backpack.  
“What’s wrong Gemma?” asked a masked figure.  
Taking a deep breath to calm down Gemma answered “That bitch had a baby. If she just said I can’t show you my bag because my son is sleeping, then I would not have stabbed her. Stupid bitch.” Gemma kicked the dead lady getting her anger and frustration out. 

“What do we do with the baby”, a follower called.  
“Should we kill it”, another suggested.  
“No you idiot. Will everyone please shut up? I draw the line with killing babies. We are going to take him and raise the kid to be a scavenger just like us. Anyone have a problem with it better speak up now.” Gemma yelled, picking up the sleeping child.  
Silence rung through the air and Gemma smiled, waving her hand and saying “Alright let’s head back to base.”

Gemma discovered the baby was named Harry and that was all she knew. She gave him the last name Styles because it sounded cool. It gave his name such an awesome ring and Harry seemed to like his last name. He was raised to be a ruthless scavenger just like Gemma. On one run a secret was discovered about the boy. He was four years old when the group found out Harry could control the air. It was a robbery gone wrong the Gemma was held at gunpoint. The gun was fired, but Gemma never felt the impact. Instead watched the bullet slow down and harmlessly hit the ground. Harry smirked and blew a gust of air, knocking over the people who tried to hurt his Gemma. Now the scavengers used Harry as their secret weapon. The boy was a murderer and a better scavenger than Gemma.

“Harry do you want to come on the run today. The scouts say they spotted some cars pulling into the entrance of the city.” Gemma asked already knowing the answer.

Harry did his famous smile showing his dimples “I always wanted a car. Let’s go.”

Gemma loved Harry like he was her own son. She never told him what happened to his parents and was not planning on it. The kid just celebrated his 7th birthday and the group gave him his own bandana. And he hasn’t taken it off since, and that was 3 months ago. Harry’s weapon was a crowbar. Gemma saw him put the crowbar on his belt and she grabbed the gun she took from Desmond so many years ago.

“Ready sport” Gemma asked messing up Harry’s hair.

The boy nodded jumping in excitement. Next thing she knew the group surrounded the cars. The bandana group waited for Gemma’s signal before they attacked. Gemma counted 3 men and knew her group could take them. Signaling the group emerged from the shadows around the 3 men.

“Hands up and back away from your cars”, Gemma yelled holding up her gun. She was not in the mood for killing people today.

One man stepped forward “I’m going to turn around and pretend you did not just point a gun at me. When I turn around you better be gone or else I will kill every single one of you.”

Okay, now Gemma was pissed who did this guy think he was. Charging forward Gemma drew her knife out ready to stab the man who spoke out. Before she reached the man Gemma heard a popping sound and felt a pain in her stomach. Looking down, she realized a sword was stabbed into her stomach. She watched the man quickly pull the sword out and blood poured out of her wound. Gemma fell backwards coughing up blood. The other 2 men pulled out guns and opened fire before Gemma’s people could respond.

Gemma knew she was dying. Her heart was slowing down and she was beginning to feel very cold. Blood surrounded her, but Gemma didn’t want to die. She was so young and was supposed to be in college and partying and having fun not dying in the middle of the street. 

Harry ran forward to get to Gemma. One of the guys with the gun turned and fired at the boy. Harry simply raised his hand and watched the bullet fall to the ground. “Gemma” he cried continuing toward his friend.

Harry didn’t care if the big scary men killed him; he just wanted to be with Gemma. He heard the gun cock back and waiting for the sound of the gunshot. Instead he heard one of the men yell “No. Don’t touch the boy.”

The boy looked around at the scene in front of him. His friends the people he grew up with were dead. Their bodies were sprawled out around him. Harry screamed and cried. Turning to the men who did this Harry filled with rage and sent a gust of wind to knock them over. The two with guns hit the cars instantly getting knocked out. The third hit the ground hard on his back. He groaned in pain and watched the boy in awe run towards the person he stabbed.

“Gemma please don’t die. You can’t leave me.” the boy pleaded.

The girl looked back at Harry with glazed eyes and released her last breath. Her head fell back onto the pavement and the hand Harry was holding went limp. “No’ Harry mumbled leaning his head on her chest to weep.

The man stood up and brushed the dirt off his body before mumbling “I’m sorry about your friend. But you have to understand she was a bad person. She killed innocent people. I gave her a chance to leave, but she attacked me first.”

“I don’t care” Harry yelled, standing up. The wind began to pick up and the man felt his pulse go up.

Pulling his collar the man stepped toward the boy “My name is Simon and I run a force called the Freedom Fighters. Have you ever heard of it?”

Harry nodded his head the wind died down. The boy knew the Freedom Fighters fought against the evil group called the Fearsome Fighters. Gemma liked the rebel group so Harry did too. 

Simon took the silence that he should continue to talk “You are a very special boy. And I have a program that can help you with your gift. You can help save the world and defeat the Fearsome Five. Does that sound good?”

The boy nodded his head. He had no home to go home too. Home was where Gemma was. Harry wiped the tears streaming down his face and took Simon’s hand.   
“What is your name kid?” Simon asked breaking the silence.  
“Harry Styles” the boy responded.

Harry sat in the backseat of the car and watched the other two men sit up and climb into the car. Simon sat in the back with Harry and told the boy of the prophecy and how the camp was going to be his new home. Harry was sent to a base in Spain to train with John Ryan to control his powers.


	4. Liam

Geoff and Karen Payne were working when the Fearsome Five attacked. Karen sat in the office building typing away at her computer when she heard the first explosion. Workers were running around the building screaming and crying. Karen was scared shitless she was on the hundredth floor. Geoff her husband was 20 floors below her. Karen went towards the window curiosity getting the best of her. The woman gasped when she reached the window.

She saw the building next to her in flames. Karen instantly knew the Fearsome Five were here. She thought her country was untouchable. Karen made herself believe the queen would protect England from any trouble. Now she was watching the neighboring building collapse to the ground. Karen watched in horror as people were crushed by falling debris. A knocking on the window startled Karen. She looked over to see Josh or as he called himself the Musclehead waving at her.

Karen backed up from the window, breathing in and out hard. She felt like she was having a panic attack. Was this where she would die? Would the last thing she see be Josh? The villain stared at her with cold, unfeeling eyes. He put on a flirtatious smile and used his heat vision to destroy the window. He flew in the room and landed next to Karen.

“Do you like what you see babe?” Josh said seductively pointing to the fallen building.

Karen turned away from the boy hoping he would go away. The silence seemed to anger Josh. He grabbed Karen’s arms and squeezed. The woman let out a scream. She felt her arms starting to bruise. Josh grinned, hearing Karen scream and squeezed harder enjoying the blood starting to seep through his fingers. Josh lifted up his hands now covered in Karen’s blood and brought it to his face. He licked the blood off his fingers turning his white teeth red. A glint of evil showed in his eyes as he licked up the rest of the blood.

“Not bad sweetie” he said flying up in the arm “I would get out of here soon baby if you want to live. I’m bringing down the building in five minutes. So get out cause I want to see that pretty face again.” Josh flew out shooting Karen a final wink before disappearing in the sky.

Karen held her hurt, bleeding arms sobbing. Suddenly the doors opened to her floor, revealing a very worried Geoff. The man ran towards his injured wife. “What happened?” he asked in concern. Karen shook her head and Geoff knew better than to press his wife. He grabbed Karen’s hand and they raced down the stairs.

Finally reaching the first floor the couple ran out of the door and was greeted by the night sky. The air was filled with smoke and debris from the fallen buildings.

“We need to get out of the city”, Geoff yelled over all the noise. Karen said nothing taking in her surroundings. Tears fell down her face as she saw England turn into shambles before her eyes. Geoff led his wife to their car and they drove away from the building. Karen watched Josh fly up to her work. He clapped his hands together like he was getting ready for something big.  
Karen watched in horror as his eyes lit up red. Beams shot out from his eyes cutting the building in half. Glass shattered landing on the ground and anyone near the falling debris. The place she worked in for 5 years fell before Karen’s own eyes. The building smashed into the ground, Karen felt the car vibrate and the woman knew life would never be the same again.

Geoff tried to console his crying wife, but he was a weeping mess like her. He didn’t even want to imagine all the people that were trapped in the building when it fell. He tried not to think of his friends and family. Geoff hoped they got away safely, but doubt built up in the back of his mind. The man kept driving until they ran out of gas. And then they walked.

The couple had no real home. They moved from place to place. The longest they stayed in an area was about a week. During their travels Karen gave birth to a boy named Liam. The family traveled for years, Geoff going off first to scope out the land and then Liam and Karen would come a day later. They avoided other people at all cost. Karen and Geoff taught Liam that people were not to be trusted. That even if he heard someone yell help he shouldn’t go over to help them.

The week was up in the current area the family was staying in. Geoff headed out in the morning to find a new place to stay in.

“Mom can I ask you a question” Liam asked from his hiding spot. Whenever Geoff left Karen and Liam hid.

“Sure honey what is it”, Karen whispered, looking around like someone was watching them. Liam rolled his eyes; his mom was sometimes too paranoid and safe.

“Do you know how old I am” Liam questioned.

Karen sucked in her breath. She was not expecting her son to ask a question like that. She thought it would be the normal one which was why he can control the earth. Ever since Karen can remember Liam had been special. He used to run over to the woman showing two rocks floating on top of his hand. One time he moved a boulder twice the size of a car when it almost hit Geoff. Karen didn’t know how Liam got this ability, she assumed from all the radiation and debris but Geoff didn’t believe that.

“Liam, I think you are about 6 years old. I can’t give an exact number because I don’t know your birthday and I haven't been exactly keeping track of the days. Now let’s be quiet and wait for your father. I don’t want any bad people to hear us”, Karen said, turning away from her son.

Liam laughed silently to himself. His mom and he were hidden in an upstairs bedroom closet. No one was going to hear them talk. Liam’s mom was definitely too paranoid.

Night came and Geoff never returned. Karen began freaking out. Liam tried to calm her but nothing worked. After a sleepless night of Karen pacing around the front door it was decided the two of them would go looking for Geoff.

Liam walked 20 feet behind his mom in case he needed to make a fast getaway. He hoped his dad was okay and waiting for them up the road. The boy watched his mom and saw she was shaking. After walking for a couple of hours, Liam began zoning out and started to get bored. He picked up rocks and started throwing them around. He had gotten pretty powerful when throwing rocks. Sometimes he could throw a rock 100 feet. Liam heard his mom shriek and he went running towards her.

Arriving on the scene Karen was on her knees sobbing. Liam looked at his mom confused until he looked up. On a highway sign hung the lifeless body of his dad. Liam’s vision became blurry with tears. He sat next to his mom and cried.

“Such a shame isn’t it”, a voice said to Liam and Karen.

Both heads shot up to find the source of the voice. Karen gasped when she found Josh floating down in front of her. “Hey I recognize you. You see I would never forget a pretty face like yours. How are your arms doing honey?” Josh asked, obviously not caring.

“Get away from me” Karen screamed pushing Josh. The boy didn’t move even move an inch, but he was still pissed.

“Who do you think you are bitch? I should kill you like I killed this man” he said pointing up to Geoff. The dead man had a gaping hole in his stomach from where Josh had used his heat vision. He was strung up by hope and dried blood lay on the ground under him.

Karen cried even harder hearing Josh had killed her beloved Geoff. “How about I make you an offer sweetheart. I’ll let your son go if you come with me and do whatever I say. Keep in mind I could easily kill your boy and take you with me kicking and screaming” Josh sassed.

The woman looked at Liam and the boy knew his mother was going to say yes. “Mom, please don’t. I can take him.” Liam screamed thinking he could hit Josh with a rock.

Karen shook her head no and pulled Liam into a hug. “I love you honey. Stay safe and hidden. Remember trust no one.” Karen whispered before stepping away from her son. Josh happily grabbed Karen around the waist and lifted her in the sky. He waved at Liam shooting the boy a mischievous look.

Josh found Liam a week later to return the body of his mother. The boy didn’t even recognize his mom, the woman who raised him. “She was fun. Screamed the whole time. I couldn’t believe she lasted a week. What a woman. Well have a good life. If I see you again though, I’ll kill you the same way I murdered your father.” Josh remarked flying away from Liam becoming a speck in the sky.

Liam bit his tongue when he examined his mom. She had rope marks around her wrists and ankles. Liam felt tears begin to fall down his face. His mother went through a week of rape and being beaten to keep her child alive. The boy balled his hands in a fist and screamed, sending an Earthquake to the surrounding town. Rocks hung suspended in the air as Liam mourned. He didn’t care if people saw the boy just wanted his mother back.

Liam wondered around for the next two years alone. He turned his back on any people he saw. The boy was numb to the world. He stopped caring about everything. Liam had nothing to live for. All Liam wanted to do was kill Josh. The boy woke up every day with one thing on his mind murdering Josh. He enjoyed imagining how he would kill the man who murdered his parents.

One day walking Liam saw Josh flew by him at super speed. The boy felt hope in his stomach as he took off after the flying figure. Liam could now move with his feet the Earth which made him faster. He ran on causing the ground around him to shake. He left piles of rocks behind him. Little did the boy know he was being watched.

Liam set up camp on the highway when the sun went down. The boy made a small fire a trick he learned from his dad and cooked up the leftover meat from the dog he killed the other day. A snap filling the air startled Liam. The boy stood up, looking for whatever made the sound. A figure stepped out of the shadow with his hands raised in the air.

“Hello, my name is Simon and I can help you get revenge on Josh. You are chasing him, right?” Simon said coolly.

“How can you help me kill Josh and how do you know I’m after him?” Liam asked, curious about the mysterious man.

“I’ve been watching you and I saw you chase after him. I run the rebel group known as Freedom Fighters. My group and I can help you control your powers and train you how to fight. But you have to come with me.” Simon said, looking intently at Liam.

Liam agreed to go with Simon. The boy was tired of being alone and wanted to learn how to defeat Josh. Simon sent Liam to a base in Australia to train with Paul Roberts.

Simon and his best friend and second in command Paul Higgins sat around smiling. They only needed to find two more boys and then the prophecy would be complete. The men had a real chance of defeating the Fearsome Five.


	5. Zayn

Trisha and Yaser Malik were on vacation when the Fearsome Five attacked. The couple decided to take some time off of work and leave the city. They rented a cabin out in the woods and had a nice romantic week. Leaving the couple noticed something was off. They saw black smoke entering the sky from the city. Yaser went to check out the damage thinking it was a terrorist attack.

Much to the shock of the couple they learned the destruction of London came from the Fearsome Five. Trisha and Yaser decided to stay in the cabin. They boarded up the windows and hoarded a month of food supplies under the floor. Yaser went hunting for food once a week and Trisha picked fruit from the nearby trees. Life was pretty good for the couple, they never saw any other people and Trisha was okay with that.

After a couple of years of living in the cabin Yaser and Trisha decided to have a family. They gave birth to a boy on a warm sunny day. Trisha named her child Zayn and loved and cherished him. The little boy saw an innocence and light in the world. The child had a hot temper that sometimes scared Trisha but she thought he would grow out of it. Zayn loved exploring the woods and playing in the stream. The kid had a strange fascination with fire and the parents could not keep their son away from it.

Yaser went out for his weekly hunt grabbing his bow and arrow before leaving the cabin. Out in the woods the man smelled burning wood and looked up in the sky and saw smoke. Fear engulfed him as he took off in the direction of the smoke hoping it wouldn’t lead back to his cabin. Unfortunately, the closer he got to the cabin the more smoke filled the air. Yaser finally reached his home and was greeted with red flames covering the cabin. “Trisha! Zayn!” the man screamed out running towards the fire.

“Over here Yaser” Trisha yelled out emerging from the tree line to the left of her husband. In her arms was a weeping Zayn. Yaser breathed out in relief and ran towards his family. He pulled his wife and child into a big hug and kissed them both on the forehead. “Thank god you’re alright” he whimpered “We need to leave the area now.”

Yaser put Zayn on his back and took his wife’s hand and headed into the forest. They went in the opposite direction of the wind so the fire wouldn’t be blown towards them. Zayn fell asleep against his dad’s back feeling safe and secure. “What happened?” Yaser questioned keeping his voice down so he wouldn’t wake up his son.

Trisha shrugged and replied “I don’t know. I was in the living room knitting and then I heard Zayn scream from his room. I saw smoke coming out of the room and kicked the door open. In the middle of the fire was Zayn freaking out. I called him over and he just walked through the fire like it didn’t even hurt. I checked him over for any injuries and he had none. Sweetie he literally walked through flames. I asked him what happened and he said his toy made him angry. I’m kinda freaked out do you think he started the fire.”

Yaser looked at his son. The boy did have an anger problem, but was it enough to light his toy on fire. “Do you think he got a match and lit the toy on fire?”

Trisha thought about it and said “Maybe. I mean we have been looking for those matches for a couple days. Should we punish Zayn?”

Yaser chuckled “Sure and what do you suppose we do send him to his room.”

Trisha started to laugh too feeling herself loosen up. She realized how lucky she was that neither she nor Zayn were killed in the fire and that Yaser found them. Trisha decided to talk with Zayn when he woke up and tell him why what he did was wrong. The couple held hands as they ascended deeper in the forest. They weren’t really sure what they were looking for, they just needed to escape.

Yaser listened to his wife hum a song and smiled. He found the sounds of the woods calming. The chirping of birds and the wind rustling the leaves were sounds Yaser grew accustomed to while living in the cabin. A snap of a branch brought the man back to reality. He stopped walking and looked behind him where the sound came from. Trisha stared at her husband in concern. “Get ready to run”, Yaser whispered handing his wife Zayn.

Another branch snapped in front of the couple. Fear crept inside Trisha’s stomach and she began to tremble. “What do you want” Yaser called out.

The couple was greeted with an eerie silence. Yaser noticed that the birds had stopped singing and the wind had died down. “Please we don’t have anything. Our home was just burned down today.” Yaser pleaded.

Crunching of the leaves came closer to the family and Yaser put Trisha behind him. Out of the trees emerged two young girls. “We aren’t here to hurt you”, the one girl said.

“Really and why should I believe you” Yaser accused.

“If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it when you left your burning cabin” the girl said coolly.

Yaser stood there in awe. These people had been watching him and he didn’t notice. He wondered how he could be so stupid.

“As I said we aren’t here to hurt you. My friends and I just needed to make sure you were good people and we decided you are. Hi I’m Safaa and I would like to offer you to become a part of our community.” Safaa offered stepping forward.

“Why should I go with you” Yaser questioned.  
Safaa smiled and replied “Because you have nowhere else to go. I can promise you my community is safe and you two will fit right in.”

“How did you find us?”

“We have always known you have lived in the cabin. We never crossed paths so I didn’t try to make your acquaintance. You seemed to be making it fine on your own. Then we saw the smoke and our community voted if we would let you become new members. Yaser you are great with a bow and Trisha you are a great knitter. You two will become valuable members in our community. So will you please come with us?”

Yaser looked at his wife, Trisha nodded her head, letting her husband to know she backed up whatever he said. The man still couldn’t get over the fact that these people had been watching him for all those years. He guessed he could trust them since they had so long to kill him. “We will go with” Yaser sighed. Safaa jumped with glee and wrapped her arm around Yaser “You won’t regret it”.

The couple did not regret choosing to stay with Safaa. The girl took the family back to her community. Trisha was shocked to see the people living in the trees. The community members had built houses way up in the trees and had bridges connecting to each house. Zayn had woken up on the way to his new home and his eyes grew big with wonder when he saw the treehouses. It was tough at first living with another married couple, but Trisha got used to it. The house was empty inside except for beds and cabinets. Everything was made of wood. Windows were the only source of light in the treehouse since there was no electricity. There were over 20 houses and Yaser shared a home with one other family. Zayn played with the family’s daughter Doniya. Their son never had anyone to play with when they lived in the cabin. In this community Zayn was able to be a normal 7 year old boy.

Yaser joined the hunters and went out three times a week to get food. He would set traps all around the forest and would bring back his catches every other day. The food was roasted over a group fire and every night the people would eat together around the campfire. The fire would be on the ground and logs were used as stools. The people used ladders to climb up and down the tall trees since they were over 50 feet tall. Trisha would mend the community’s clothes and go out with other villagers to pick fruit. The children’s jobs were to get water and stay within eyesight of the adults.

“1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,910. Ready or not, here I come” Zayn called out lifting his eyes away from the bark of the tree. He stood still and listened, trying to hear if any of the kids were breathing load or giggling. He heard nothing and sighed this round of hide and seek was going to be hard. Zayn search and searched for hours. The sun was beginning to set when Zayn headed back to the treehouse. Climbing up the ladder he saw his friends’ eating apples.

“Where were you guys?” Zayn asked.

Doniya giggled, looking at the other kids “We were up here the whole time.” The other kids’ bursted out with laughter. They laughed at Zayn and how they tricked him. The boy felt himself steam with anger. “I hate you guys” he screamed climbing down the ladder.

Doniya and her friends laughed even more at Zayn’s reaction. They didn’t really understand they had hurt Zayn’s feelings since they were between the ages of 6-8. Doniya finished her apple and headed back to her house to get ready for dinner.

Zayn ran to the trees and screamed in frustration. His breaths came out ragged and his vision became red. He kicked rocks and stomped on any flower he saw. Zayn wanted to rip apart the kids who made him look like a fool. The boy felt his hands get really warm and looked down. He was surprised to see his hands were on fire. Zayn screamed and stopped, dropped, and rolled. He sat up and stared at his hands, which were still on fire. The flames spread around Zayn and the boy remained unburnt. He stared in awe as the flames licked his legs. He giggled when the flame touched his leg because it tickled.

He wondered why his mom told him fire was bad. Then he remembered when his friend Waliyha fell in the fire one night at dinner. The girl shrieked when she tripped over the log. She held out her hands and fell straight into the bonfire. Waliyha screamed in pain when her hands touched the flames. Her parents pulled her out and quickly put out the flames. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Her arms were black and bubbling. Waliyha was rushed to the nursery, but died a couple days later of an infection. Zayn wondered why his arms were black like Waliyha’s were.

The boy was so caught up in playing with the fire, he didn’t notice the flames beginning to spread. Looking up, he saw the fire, he created was heading straight towards the community. “No” he whispered. Zayn bolted toward his home seeing the destruction from the fire as he ran on the burnt ground. The boy saw dead animals all around him and watched a rabbit get cornered by the flames. Zayn ran through the fire and picked up the bunny and put him down when he was away from the flames.

Screams filled the air and Zayn saw the fire reach his home. People were burning alive inside their houses. The familiar smell of burnt flesh came to Zayn. He gagged at the strong smell and threw up. Running to the community Zayn saw houses falling apart and people running on the platforms on fire. The boy watched one man fall off and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Doniya ran out of the house screaming. Her clothes and hair were on fire. She flailed around for a couple seconds before collapsing on the ground dead.

All the ladders had burned up so Zayn had no way of climbing up to help the community. He could only watch helplessly as his people died. Trisha appeared crying in pain. The fire cornered her on the platform. Suddenly the wood, she was standing on gave out and she fell 50 feet to the ground. Trisha hit the ground head first and her head cracked open. “Mom”, Zayn yelled. He sat down next to her and rocked his mom back and forth telling her everything would be okay. The flames slowly ate away at his mom’s skin, making her unrecognizable. “I’m so sorry mom” the boy wept.

By this point the screaming had died down. The community was in ruins and smoke filled the air. Burnt bodies fell from the trees. Everyone was dead and Zayn knew it was his fault. The boy looked for his father and sadly found him. Yaser was trapped inside Zayn’s house. The boy fought back tears, staring at his dad’s cold lifeless body. He black charoled hands sent shivers up the boy’s spine. He walked away from his community and never looked back. He walked in the opposite direction of the flames the images of his people dying replaying in his head.

Zayn walked in a daze. The boy was weeping over the loss of his family and friends. He had no idea where he was going to go or what he was going to do. Zayn’s feet pavement and the boy looked down, surprised. He saw there were no trees around him and the kid realized he was no longer in the woods.

The boy screamed out in rage. He punched the ground and fell onto his knees a crying mess. His whole body was now covered in flames. Zayn rolled around on fire trying to get rid of the flames. The kid never saw a black car pull over right next to him. Zayn finally got rid of the flames and sighed.

“That was pretty impressive kid” a voice remarked.

Zayn jumped and turned his head toward the sound.

“I’m guessing you caused that” the man said, pointing toward the black smoke coming from the forest.

The boy bit his lip and nodded, causing more tears to leak down your face.

The man bent down next to Zayn making both his knees crack. “Hi, my name is Simon and I’m part of a group called Freedom Fighters. We have been looking for you kid. You are special and can help save the world.” Simon said.

“I can’t save the world. I couldn’t even save my parents or the community.”

“Well if you join the Freedom Fighters you can make it up to your parents. I mean, where else are you going to go kid.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I’ll help you control your powers kid, but you have to come with me before the Fearsome Five come. This fire will definitely attract them.”

 

“Was that why you came?”

“Yes I saw the fire and came to help. My people are probably at the scene now trying to save whoever they can.”

“Everyone’s dead. There is no one left to save.”

Simon sucked in his breath. He didn’t know how to respond to the kid. After a couple seconds of silence Zayn spoke “I’ll go with you. But only because you said you would teach me to control my power.” 

The man nodded his head in approval and led the kid to the car pulled over on the side of the road. Simon pulled into the base and let his doctors check over Zayn. He needed to find Paul. The man ran to Paul’s tent and barged in. His friend looked up and a smile spread across his face “Been awhile Simon.”

“6 months” Simon sighed. He really did miss his best friend, but Simon had to travel from base to base.

“What are you doing here?”

“I went to the forest fire since I was in the area.”

“And?”

“I found the fourth boy of the prophecy!”

“That’s great.”

“I know but I need to ask you to do something, Paul.”

“What is it Simon?”

“I’m going to train the kid which means I won’t be able to travel around looking for the fifth member. Paul I need you to take my place. Find the last child and train him. Take the kid to the base in Germany and train him. I will contact you when I’m ready to have all the kids meet up. Can you do this for me Paul?”

Paul thought about it for a moment before replying “Yes Simon I’ll always help you out. Go train the new kid, I’ll find the last boy of the prophecy. I’ll miss you though.”

Simon sighed in relief he knew he could always rely on Paul. “I’ll miss you too.” Both men hugged each other and after a couple of moments Simon broke it up.

“I’ll see you in a couple years buddy. You better do a good job training the last kid or else I’m getting myself a new best friend and co-leader.”

Paul chuckled “Whatever you say Simon”.

Paul watched his friend leave the tent with sad eyes. He wished him luck and Paul began planning how he was going to find the last kid. He didn’t want to let Simon down.

Simon took Zayn and both boys drove to the base in France.


	6. Niall

Bobby and Maura Horan were a perfect family with their son Greg. They lived in a quiet little town in Ireland. Life was going great until the Fearsome Five attacked London. Bobby stayed glued to the TV during the attack. Maura hid Greg in the other room he was too young to see such violence. “What are we going to do Bobby” Maura yelled from the bedroom. Her voice was filled with panic and fear. Bobby didn’t answer, he was in shock. He had just watched Big Ben fall to the ground.

“I don’t know honey, I really don’t” was all Bobby could muster. He realized nowhere would be truly safe from the Fearsome Five. That night the family packed up their car and just drove. Greg slept most of the drive not really aware of what was happening since he was only 7 years old. The car ran out of gas which resulted in the family to walk aimlessly. Bobby decided to take Maura and Greg to an abandoned castle to hide.

After living there for a couple months Maura surprised Bobby with the news of being pregnant. Bobby to say the least was not excited. This was not the kind of the world he wanted to raise a kid, he could barely handle Greg. Over 20 people lived in the castle with Maura and her family. The winters were cold in the castle and the summers were scorching hot but they all survived.

A year after living their Maura gave birth to another son and named him Niall. He had blue eyes that Maura felt like she could drown in. Bobby was the leader of the community and he sort of let the power go to his head. Maura found it harder to recognize her husband as each day passed. He became very strict and grew a scary temper. Sometimes the woman thought her husband was going to hit her.

The people of the community treated Bobby like he was a king. The man got all the food and would give the scraps to his people. Anyone who disobeyed him was punished severely. Bobby ruled with an iron fist and no one would ever dare to challenge him. 

Bobby never liked his son Niall. The boy was way too happy and cheerful and it annoyed the hell out of the king. He also hated that Niall never seemed to get sick or get any injuries. The father would watch his kid fall down the stairs and see Niall get up and walk away like nothing happened. Greg seemed to be sick every other week. Bobby wished the roles were reversed. He wanted to begin training the eldest son to run the community.

The king grew tired of Niall never getting hurt and decided to get to the bottom of it. One morning he called his son who was 4 in the throne room. “Hello son, do you why you are here?” Bobby asked, annoyed seeing Niall was already smiling.

“No” Niall replied.

“It’s no sir”

“No sir”  
“Good. Now Niall have you ever noticed that when you slip and fall you never get hurt, but when Greg does he gets a cut.”

“Yes sir”

“Well I want to test something out so stand next to me and hold out your arm” Bobby ordered.

Niall knew better than to argue so he went and stood next to his father. The boy rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and placed his arm in front of Bobby. The king pulled out a knife and brought it next to son’s arm.

The blonde quickly pulled his arm back. “What are you doing father” the boy questioned.

“I thought I told you never to call me father” the king screamed getting up from his throne. “Why do always make everything so hard?”

Bobby pushed Niall to the floor and pinned his son down. The blonde squirmed and cried trying to get out of his father’s grasp. “Please don’t hurt me daddy” Niall whimpered.

“I am not your father. I am your king” Bobby yelled. Bringing out his knife Bobby made a small cut on Niall’s arm. Blood ran down the boy’s arm as he cried in pain. But just as fast as the cut appeared it went away and the bleeding stopped.

“What the hell” the king muttered. He made another cut on Niall’s arm and watched that one disappear too. “How are you doing that” Bobby screamed.

“I don’t know” Niall croaked. His father was beginning to scare the boy.

Maura ran into the throne room to find her husband on top of her child holding a knife. She pushed Bobby off of Niall and quickly scanned her son. “What are you doing” she asked.

“Nothing. Look he’s fine” Bobby sighed. He wasn’t really in the mood to be nagged by his wife.

“Then why is there blood on his arm” Maura shot back at her husband.

Bobby rolled his eyes and said “Just watch”. He grabbed Niall’s arm and cut it again. Maura screamed but was quickly silenced when she saw the wound healing.

“We’ll talk about this later” she huffed and proceed to drag Niall out of the throne room.

Bobby sat down in his chair and rubbed his head. He now had a headache due to his wife yelling. Why couldn’t Greg have been blessed with a gift like that?

In the next couple of weeks it was discovered Niall could control water. Greg had tried to dump a bucket of ice cold water on his brother but Niall stopped it midair. Bobby was less than thrilled when he found out about it. He wanted to keep his son’s abilities a secret from the community. In order to keep his boy a secret Niall was not allowed to leave his room anymore. The blonde lived a pretty boring life in his bedroom.

The next winter Maura and Greg caught the flu. Since the castle had no medicine, there was no way to treat the flu. Bobby watched his family fall apart when Greg died. He knew Maura would die soon and didn’t leave her side. The king wanted to be there when his wife died. He wanted to see her take her last breath and watch as her chest stopped moving.

Maura leaned up from her bed and coughed up blood. Sighing she turned to her husband and begged “Please take care of Niall. I know you two haven’t gotten along, but try for me”.

Bobby stared at his wife and yelled “No bitch! You brought that bastard into this world. He is the reason Greg is dead. He could have healed Greg but did he no. So no I shall not take care of him, but I will make that boy pay.”

“Please don’t Bobby. If you ever loved me, then don’t hurt him”

“Good thing I never loved you then” Bobby said, getting up and shutting the door on his crying wife. He had stopped loving Maura the second they got to the castle. She was weak and held him back. Life would be better without her. Maura died the next day alone in her bedroom.

Niall mourned the death of his brother and mother. He had loved them so much and he couldn't believe they had been taken from him. He heard footsteps nearing his door and quickly wiped away his tears.

The door slammed open and his father barged into the room. “I know you could have healed Greg you bastard.” Bobby yelled.

“I don’t know how dad” Niall croaked.

“It’s all your fault” the king declared “And I’ll make you pay for it every day.”

Bobby began to repeatedly punch Niall on the face. Each time he pulled his fist away his son’s face would be healed. He growled in frustration and hit him even harder. Niall cried in pain. He might be able to heal, but he still felt every punch. And that day was when the daily beating began.

Everyday Niall was beat to a pulp and left to heal so his dad could come for round two. The king enjoyed using his son as a punching bag. It was a great stress reliever. Niall endured this treatment for six years. What he learned was his body could only heal so much damage instantly. The rest would heal slowly in a span of hours. To speed up the process Niall would put water on his wounds and they would heal instantly. Sometimes when the king was feeling extra mean he wouldn’t let his son heal fully before the next beating. Niall began to lose the will to live and learned to never to trust people.

Niall awoke to screaming from the courtyard. Groaning he tried getting out of bed, but quickly realized his ankle was broken. Usually broken bones took 2 to 3 hours to heal. Another scream erupted through the warm summer night air. Hobbling over to the window, he saw smoke pouring into the sky a mile from the castle. A fire must have started due to the ground being so dry. The community was evacuating the castle. Niall knew he needed to get out now if he was going to beat the fire.

“Where do you think you’re going” Bobby called from Niall’s doorway.

The son jumped and turned to look at his. “I’m trying to escape before the fire comes”.

“Why do you think I’m going to let you leave this castle? Don’t you remember I told you that you could never leave this room?”

“Dad if I don’t leave I’ll die”

“And that would be a blessing to the world”

“Please let me leave and I swear you’ll never see me again. I’ll go in the opposite direction of you”

“No. I much rather let you burn alive in the castle.” the king replied. He grabbed Niall and pushed him in the wooden chair. Taking rope Bobby tied his son to the chair.

“You don’t have to do this” Niall pleaded tears glistening down his face.

“But I want to” Bobby said, standing up to admire his work. The boy’s feet and hands were tied to the chair. There was no way the kid was getting out of the rope. Pulling out his knife Bobby plunged it into Niall’s chest. The boy screamed on impact and whimpered when Bobby pulled out the knife. The king made sure to pull it out slowly and to twist it around so Niall felt even more pain.

“Goodbye Niall. Have fun burning alive. I want you to know I have never considered you my son. All you were was a disappointment” Bobby mocked closing the door.

Niall screamed and thrashed around. His chest was bleeding and slowly healing. He feared he might actually bleed to death. The blonde kept screaming for help and started to feel lightheaded. The boy closed his eyes welcoming death and decided to stop fighting it. He made his chest stop healing and waited until he bled to death.

The boy began to doze off when his door slammed open. Cracking his eyes open Niall saw a stranger in his room. The man ran over and crouched down next to Niall and started to untie the ropes. “My name is Paul and I’m here to help. Let me see your chest” Paul requested.

Niall rubbed his raw, bleeding wrists when they were untied. The man looked at Niall’s chest and sighed sadly “There is nothing I can do kid. I can’t stitch you up. You’ll bleed to death before I get you out of the castle.”

The blonde asked “Do you have any water.”

“Yea. Hold on” Paul said reaching into his bag.

He handed the water to Niall and the blonde gladly took it. Paul watched Niall unscrew the top and pour it all over his wound. Much to the man’s surprise the bleeding wound healed. The blonde though passed out from blood loss and fell onto the ground.

Paul grabbed the boy and draped him over his shoulder. He couldn’t believe he had just found the last boy to the prophecy. He was just driving down the road when he saw the flames. He went to the castle to help the people leave, but when he got there everyone was already gone. He was about to leave when he heard screaming from the castle. He thanked god he didn’t leave the castle. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if he didn’t hear the boy scream.

The man put Niall in his car and drove back to his base. He sent a letter to Simon saying he found the last kid. Paul headed in Germany with Niall so he could train the boy to defeat the Fearsome Five. Now with the five boys of the prophecy found the Freedom Fighters stood a real chance of saving the world.


	7. The Meeting

After years of non-stop training Simon decided it was finally time for the boys to meet. He called each of their trainers in for a meeting to hear how the boys were doing. The trainers all sat in a circle inside Simon’s old tent at a base in England. It was the place where Simon and Paul had started Freedom Fighters. It brought back old memories of him and his friend trying to think of a plan to defeat the Fearsome. They had been so young back then and innocent. The new world had turned Simon into someone he couldn’t recognize. He should have been a teacher not a leader of a rebel group. Simon hadn’t seen the base in a while. He looked around and breathed in the familiar scent. God he really had missed this place.

“Thank you all for joining me today” Simon began “As you all know we are here to discuss the boys and their training.”

The four other people nodded their heads. “How about we start with introductions before we begin the meeting. State your name, the boy you trained, and their power.” Simon ordered.

“Okay I guess I’ll start. My name is John Ryan. I have been training Harry for these past years. And his power is air manipulation.” John said, standing up flashing everyone a smile.

“I feel like I’m at an alcoholics anonymous meeting” Coraline joked, “My name is Caroline Watson and I have had the pleasure of working with Louis Tomlinson. That boy is a hoot. He can control plants and animals and can shapeshift into animals. Let’s just say Louis can be hard to find when he turns into a bird and flies away.”

Caroline’s attempt to be funny earned some forced laughter. The room fell into an awkward silence. Suddenly the man next to Caroline cleared his throat and stated “My name is Paul Roberts, but since we have two Pauls’ here, you can call me Roberts. Liam is my student and he can control the Earth.” The man was very uptight and seemed in have no funny side. He sat stiff and kept a blank face. Roberts was very dedicated to his mission and never fooled around. He faced Simon and saluted the man.

“At ease soldier” Simon said. Roberts sat back down in his seat and stared intently at Simon waiting for the leader to speak. “As you guys know I’m Simon. I trained Zayn who can control fire.”

Paul Higgins sat there twiddling with his thumbs. “Your turn Paul” Simon sighed.

“Umm okay I’m Paul and you can call me Paul I guess. I had Niall and he control water. That boy is amazing he can heal himself and others and turn water into ice. The boy, though...”

“Enough” Simon barked. “I only asked for the name and power not their backstory. Please only answer what is asked so we can move this meeting along.”

Paul gave a weak nod embarrassed his friend had just snapped at him.

"Who here thinks their boy is battle ready" Simon asked who was not in the mood for games.

Roberts shot is hand straight up proud to say Liam was ready to fight. He looked around smiling seeing he was the only one. Caroline slowly raised her hand, giving Roberts a big smile showing him he wasn’t the only one who had a boy combat ready. The man growled under his breath, deciding he didn't like that woman. The room filled with tension as Roberts gave Caroline a death stare. 

"Simon is Zayn not ready for combat" Roberts questioned, turning to see the leader’s hand not raised. He was confused that his leader didn't raise his hand.

"Tell me why Liam is" Simon responded quickly not happy that Roberts was belittling him.

"When I first received Liam he was a sad weeping boy. With a tough set of rules the boy quickly got over his grief. I made have left a hand in getting the boy to stop grieving. He learned to control his power. Liam is fueled by his anger against the Fearsome Five member Josh, who murdered Liam’s mother and father. My boy is ready to rip Josh to shreds. Every year he has practically begged me to let him go after the Fearsome Five. Of course I didn't let him. Liam is disciplined just like me. He is all about honor. I must say he reminds me a lot of myself. He might not be the best team player, but who really needs teams. Liam can take on Fearsome Five by himself if he wanted" Roberts declared proud of how Liam turned out.

He remembered Liam first showing up crying and having random fits of anger. Roberts would beat Liam every time he cried for his mom. He would yell "Your mom is dead and not coming back. Stop crying over the dead and move on." Roberts taught Liam to focus on his revenge. And Liam turned into a boy only wanting revenge. He wasn't really a team player. He was going to kill Josh no matter what and he didn't care how many people died until he reached his goal.

Caroline rolled her eyes at Roberts. She didn't like his cocky nature. "Louis has learned to master controlling plants and animals. He still has a little trouble shapeshifting, but nothing a little practice couldn't fix. If the boy really concentrates he can make any animal appear. They come from his mind and it is truly amazing. One day he forged a T-Rex out of thin air. And might I add what a terrifying sight it was to have a dinosaur in a camp. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it was breathtaking. For him to make animals from his mind, he must know what they look like. I went to the bookstores and grabbed as many picture books as I could and taught Louis all about animals. For the T-Rex, I showed him pictures of dinosaurs from a children's book. The only problem with Lou is how naive he is. The boy has never suffered a true loss. Louis still sees the world as a happy place. His innocence could get him killed in battle because the boy refuses to kill anything. Once I tried to make him kill a wild deer, but cried and threw a fit just thinking about hurting the animal. So I killed it and Louis didn't talk to me for a week."

The woman loved Louis like he was her child. Coraline had a family before the world went to hell. She even had a son, but he lost in the destruction of the city. Instead of just giving up and dying Coraline decided to do the opposite. She wanted to save the world so no one would feel the pain she felt. Louis was such a nice kid, she could never picture him fighting the Fearsome Five.

"Interesting" Simon said, scratching his chin. "Why don't you think Harry is ready" the leader asked John.

"Well unlike Louis who can't hurt a fly Harry can kill anyone and feel no remorse. The kid is scary. He has killed about 10 of our soldiers during his stay with us. Harry is unpredictable and reckless. The boy believes he can take on the world. In his mind, he is unstoppable. Every time I went to train him I thought it could be my last day alive. One day after he refused to train I sent him to bed without supper, which I believe is not a horrible punishment. To get back at me he made a tornado that destroyed the camp. He sat in the eye of the storm giggling like a madman enjoying seeing everyone's panic. Harry is terrifying and must be watched at all times." John confessed.

John was still haunted by the first person Harry killed. The man sent a soldier Harry's age named Evan to try and befriend the boy. Everything seemed to be fine. Harry took a liking to Evan and even invited the boy to sit with him at dinner. And as everyone knows, no one sits next to Harry at dinner. Harry took the soldier outside. Using his powers Harry lifted Evan 50 feet in the air and dropped him. The boy screamed until he smacked the ground. Evan fell on his neck and it snapped with a sickening sound that John hears every night in his dreams. John had asked Harry why he had done it. And Harry with an evil smile said he sat with me at dinner.

"Shit" Simon cried. "The boy I trained isn’t much better. Zayn is broken. He cries himself to sleep every night. He refuses to get close to anyone in fear that he will hurt them. At night he has horrible nightmares and will sometimes catch on fire. He has burned down our base twice now. I have to post guards outside his door with buckets of water in case he has another bad nightmare. The boy is a ticking time bomb. He still can't control his powers. His emotions get the best of him and he loses control."

Zayn always kept himself distant from everyone at the camp. During his first couple of years the boy actually mingled around and started to come out of his box. But then at training Zayn got a little carried away and burned a group of soldiers. No one died, but Zayn stopped talking then. Soldiers would go the other way when they saw Zayn and the boy felt like an outcast. He would show up for practice and then head straight back to his tent. The soldiers at the base were scared of Zayn and made sure to keep their distance from him in fear of getting burned. Simon tried hard to bring Zayn out of his box again. He wanted to have a father son relationship with the boy, but Zayn was having none of that. Even after training with the boy for so many years Simon still knew nothing about Zayn.

"Niall is just as bad as Zayn" Paul stated "He lives in constant fear. Whenever someone tries to touch him, he flinches away scared. He thinks all people, but mostly adults are like his father. Niall has no confidence in himself and believes that his father was right for abusing him all those years. He won't let anyone get close to him and is super shy. Many of the soldiers think the boy is a mute. Healing people is the hardest thing for him to do because it always reminds Niall of how he couldn't save his mom and brother. I have tried to grow close to the boy but he pushes me away claiming I'm just like his father. At lessons sometimes he refuses to use his powers and allows himself to get hurt. I have to force Niall to heal himself."

Paul though loved Niall like a son. The boy had such a sweet and innocent look about him. His big blue eyes were filled with so much pain that it broke Paul’s heart. It was a rare occasion when the boy smiled or laughed. Smiling made Niall younger and the pain would leave his eyes just for those couple of seconds. Everyday Paul would try to make the boy smile, but would have no luck. The one time it worked was when Paul was running over to Niall and tripped falling straight on his face. Embarrassed he looked up to see a big bright smile on the boy's face. Since then Paul always tried to make Niall happy. Seeing a happy Niall was what Paul wanted in his life. He wanted the boy to be constantly happy and made it his life goal to have a smile never leave Niall’s face.

"What should we do? The boys all seem to be broken." Simon sighed.

"I think they can fix each other. Maybe we have them meet. Let it be just the five of them. Give them time to get to know each other and grow close. They need people who have gone through the same pain as them. I believe they can relate to each other and form an unbreakable bond." Paul suggested.

Simon thought about it for a minute. It seemed he and his fellow soldiers had taught them everything they could. They did need to bond with each other before they fought the Fearsome Five.

"Alright Paul we will vote on your idea. I vote yes for it." Simon said.

"I say you guys send the boys to me. Give me a couple months with them and they will be ready to fight" Roberts claimed.

"Hell no" Caroline responded “You’re crazy and I am not letting Louis near you. I vote a yes for Paul's plan."

John met eyes with an angry looking Roberts. He knew if he agreed with Paul he would be on Roberts’s bad side. John sighed "I agree with Paul.” John received a glare from Roberts.

"You're all idiots" Roberts screamed storming out of the tent.

Simon turned and said "Time for the boys to meet up then. I hope your plan works Paul. I really do."

To say Simon was worried was an understatement. The safety of the world depended on five boys who were all broken. He prayed they could fix each other, but Simon wasn’t sure. What if the boys hated each other and tried to fight. So many things could go wrong. But one thing the man was sure of was the five boys were not ready to take on the Fearsome Five. They needed to learn to work together as a team and depend on each other. Simon began biting his nails thinking of all the possibilities of what would happen when the boys would meet. 

"Don't worry my plan will work." Paul said trying to comfort his friend, but the same thoughts were running through his head.

Would his plan really work?


	8. The Boys Finally Meet

Simon decided to let the five boys live in America to finish out their training together. The country was big enough to hide the boys. There were forests everywhere. The country had become a wasteland, vines covered all the buildings and few people lived out in the open. The Fearsome Five set up their home base in China which was far away from America. Every couple of years they would switch countries. 5 years ago America was their base and they destroyed a majority of the country. Ed had taken the head of the statue of Liberty as a souvenir from America. Simon knew the boys would be safe there for the time being because there was nothing in America for the Fearsome Five to destroy.

Each boy took a separate boat to get to America. They would be meeting up in California. In California the boys would be staying in Angeles National Forest. With boy, was a rechargeable walkie talkie so they could communicate with Simon, who would also be staying in America with the other trainers. They would be staying in a base in Florida.

“Why are you leaving me” Niall cried “Did I do something wrong?”

“No Ni. You are going to stay with four boys who are just like you” Paul replied feeling a pang of guilt.

Paul and Niall had arrived first and were standing at the campsite that the soldiers from the Florida base had set up. It contained five small tents already set up, 5 sleeping bags, and cooking supplies.

“I’m scared” Niall confessed clinging onto Paul.

“I know buddy, but I have to go or else the car is going to leave without me” Paul cried.

Paul gently pushed the blonde off of him and saw the boy’s eyes fill with tears. “You’re just like my dad. Everyone always leaves me. Why would you be any different” Niall screamed, running away from the man.

“Niall wait” Paul called out, but it was too late Niall left the campsite. Sighing sadly his vision started getting murky with tears. Paul walked slowly over to the car.

“How’d it go sir?” the soldier asked turning on the engine.

“Just drive” Paul replied coldly. He stared out of the back window, hoping to catch a glimpse of blonde hair.

*******

“This is stupid” Liam said, kicking the nearest rock.

“I know” Roberts replied “You can take on the Fearsome Five without these losers.”

“Do I have to stay?”

“Stay for a little and if the guys are useless, then leave and find me. You don’t need them.”

“Why would Simon recruit them?”

“Because he is weak. Listen I’ll come to you in a few months. I might need to use you to take over the Freedom Fighters. Simon isn’t what he used to be. He is getting soft and needs to be put down. Will you help me Liam?”

“Yes anything for you sir”

“That’s my boy” Roberts said, patting Liam’s head. “I’ll see you soon” the man called out getting into the car.

Liam watched the car until it was a tiny speck in the distance. He saw clothes already in one of the tents and realized he wasn’t the only one there. Liam looked around the site but didn’t see the other boy anywhere. Taking a deep breath, Liam slammed his foot on the ground. He became one with the ground and sensed everything around him. He could see everything, the ground saw. He found that the other member was sitting in front of a waterfall. Liam proud of himself ran to find the other boy.

*******

“Did you pack a jacket” nagged Caroline.

“Yes and for the millionth time stop nagging me woman. I am a young adult” Louis sassed.

“Remember don’t talk to strangers”

“I’m just going to pretend you didn’t tell me that. Caroline you are treating me like I’m five. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will be, but I’m just nervous.”

“Its fine I’m a little nervous too. What if the lads don’t like me?”

“I can assure you that they will love you.”

“Thanks” Louis said, pulling Coraline in for a hug “I’ll miss you”

Coraline climbed into the car and waved goodbye. She continued to wave as the car drove away. She was really going to miss Louis.

Louis was so excited to meet others just like him. He walked around the campsite and was disappointed to see he was the only one there. Sighing, he picked the third tent as his and went inside zipping up the door. He was going to take a quick power nap before the others arrived. 

******

Harry hadn’t said a word the whole boat ride. He kept the same glaring look on his face the whole ride and in the car to California.

“What’s wrong Harry” Ryan asked.

“Nothing just don’t see why I have to travel all the way to America to train with the boys. If any of them look at me funny, I will kill them.”

“Please don’t kill them Harry. Just give them a chance. Who knows, maybe you might like them.”

“That would be impossible because I don’t like anyone” Harry said turning to look out the car window. The boy didn’t say another word for the rest of the trip.

John carried all of Harry’s belonging out of the car because the boy refused to help. Harry sat on the ground with his hands crossed.

“Well I guess this is goodbye Harry” John said.

“Whatever” Harry responded, turning his back to his trainer.

Sighing John walked back to the car feeling rejected. He had spent over 10 years with that boy the least he could have done was say goodbye.

Harry closed his eyes and started meditating. The boy found when he meditated it helped calm him down. He became on with the air and felt inner peace. When John left the boy felt the same pain when Gemma died. Harry depended on John and loved him like a father. He was pissed John left in the middle of the woods with four boys he didn’t know. Harry took a deep breath and cleared his mind of all his troubles and blocked out the rest of the world.

*******

“Simon this is a really bad idea” Zayn said nervously.

“Why” Simon asked.

“What if I set the campsite on fire? What if I burn the forest down?”

“Zayn you are forgetting there is a boy who can control water. Just as fast as you start the fire the boy will put it out”

Zayn leaned back. He had forgotten about that boy. “I still think it’s a bad idea”.

Simon and Zayn walked to the campsite in silence. The boy looked around the woods and was reminded of his old home. The home he had burnt down.

“I can’t do this” Zayn confessed.

“You have to” Simon ordered “The whole world is depending on you. You don’t have a choice”

Reluctantly the boy continued to follow Simon. They entered the camp to see a boy sitting crossed legged in the center. Zayn unzipped a tent to reveal a sleeping boy. Startled Zayn let out a small yelp that woke the boy.

“Hi I’m Louis. What’s your name? Do you want to be friends” Louis exclaimed climbing out of the tent.

Zayn took a couple steps back, unsure what to say. He had never met such an overly enthusiastic person.

Simon walked over to the meditating boy and whispered “Harry if you can hear me can you please get up and join us”.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and sent glares to each of the boys.

“Where are the other two?” Simon asked, looking around the site.

Harry shrugged, still sitting down and said “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

Louis replied “When I got here I saw their stuff already in the tents. I think they went exploring in the woods.”

“Thank you Louis” Simon responded “Shall we go find the others then before I leave?”

Louis nodded his head and added “I bet I can help find them”

The boy went up to the nearest tree and rested both hands on it. He sat their whispering words that Zayn couldn’t understand. It was like Louis was in a trance. “I found them” he exclaimed, taking his hands off the tree.

“What was that” Zayn asked, curious to know what the boy just did.

“I asked the trees where the two boys went. Each tree is connected and can communicate with each other. So I simply saw what all the other trees saw.” Louis explained “They are at the waterfall Simon.”

“Excellent let’s go then” Simon said impressed with Louis’s ability. Sighing Harry stood up on his feet and followed Zayn and Louis.

******

Liam left the clearing of the forest and was greeted with a beautiful sight. The boy had never seen crystal clear water. Large rocks covered the shoreline and some stuck out from the water. The waterfall was about 20 feet high and the water sparkled falling down it. Looking around Liam found the boy sitting on top a rock with his feet hanging in the water.

“Hey you” Liam screamed, running towards the boy.

The boy looked up startled and slipped and fell in the water. Liam saw the boy was blonde and had eyes so blue a person could melt in them. Water splashed up when the blonde fell in.

“Shit” Liam mumbled watching the surface of the water for the blonde to appear.

After a couple of seconds, Liam took off his shoes and socks and jumped into the water after the boy. He wasn’t going to let the blonde drown on his watch. Jumping in Liam was fit with a wave of cold. He shivered as he opened his eyes. He saw the water was about 30 feet deep. He swam around looking for the blonde.

He saw a figure swim behind and Liam turned around and met eyes with the boy. Liam let out his breath he was holding, seeing the blue eyes up close. Liam was out of air and felt his lungs beginning to burst. The blonde gently grabbed Liam’s arms and pulled him to the surface. He swam Liam to the rocks and Liam climbed on top. He watched the blonde boy struggle to push himself up on the rocks. Chuckling Liam lent the blonde a hand.

“Thanks” the boy muttered, taking the hand and pulling himself on top if the rock “Why did you jump in after me” the boy asked.

“Because I thought you were drowning” Liam replied.

“Why did you try and save me”

“I don’t know, maybe because you are one of the boys from the prophecy. We kinda need you alive to defeat the Fearsome Five. I was definitely not going to have you die because of something so stupid like drowning”

“Oh” the blonde said disappointed.

“What’s your name kid?” Liam asked.

“Niall” the blonde responded.

Liam watched in amazement as Niall dried off in a matter of seconds. His wet hair looked like it had been dried professionally. The boy looked like he hadn’t fallen in the water.

“How did you do that” Liam asked.

“Oh this” Niall said, looking at his dry clothes “I can control water so I just kinda force all the water out of my hair and clothes.”

“That is really cool” Liam replied.

“How did you find me?”

“Well you can control water I can control the Earth. I saw what the ground saw and found you.”

“Wow that is really cool”

“I know” Liam exclaimed, smiling at himself “Can you dry me off?”

“Sure” Niall said happily jumping up from the rock.

The blonde held out his arms and Liam watched the water roll off his body and into the water. Water dripped from his shirt until the shirt was perfectly dry. Liam sighed in relief, feeling dry.

Both boys looked up when they heard movement coming from the woods. Niall whimpered in fear and Liam rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe he was stuck fighting with someone who acted like a child.

“Stay behind me” Liam whispered harshly.

Out of the woods came 3 boys and an old man.

“Hello you must Liam and Niall. I’m Simon” the man called out.

Liam let his muscles relax when he realized the people were not a threat. One boy came running towards Liam and Niall.

“Hi, I’m Louis. Do you want to be friends” Louis exclaimed.

Liam groaned “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to defeat the Fearsome Five.”

Louis’s mouth hung open as Liam walked by him. Putting on a smile he turned to Niall with pleading eyes.

“I guess I’ll be your friend” Niall mumbled scratching his head.

“Yay” Louis squealed pulling the blonde in for a hug.

Niall flinched and pushed Louis away. “Don’t ever touch me” Niall screamed, causing all the boys to look over at the blonde and Louis.

“Sorry” Louis muttered, stepping away from Niall who was hugging himself.

Simon felt a pang of fear that the plan wouldn’t work. The boys already seemed at odds with each other.

“So as you know you five boys are the five boys of the prophecy. Louis can control plants and animals. Niall can control water. Harry can control the air. Liam can manipulate the earth. And Zayn can control fire. We need you lads to learn to work together. Teamwork and learning to control your abilities will be the key in defeating the Fearsome Five. Be patient with each other. And give everyone a chance. Grow an unbreakable bond and never give up. You are the last hope this planet has against the Fearsome Five. The world thanks you for your help and I wish you luck.” Simon said. 

“Who is the team leader” Liam asked, hoping it was him.

“You guys shall decide that” Simon responded. “Now I must get going. I’ll see you lads in a couple of months. Don’t let the world down”. And with that Simon walked out of the clearing, leaving the five boys alone.

They all awkwardly stared at each other not sure what to do or say.

“This is so dumb” Harry yelled, storming away from the waterfall.

“I second that. I don’t need you guys to help defeat the Fearsome Five. I can do that by myself.” Liam added walking away from Zayn, Louis, and Niall.

Niall shook his head and sat back down on the rocks. Louis went to sit down next to the blonde the kid said “Please don’t I want to be alone and the water helps me think.”

Louis nodded his head sadly and looked up at Zayn.

“You definitely don’t want me as your friend” Zayn said walking away from Louis.

Louis stared at the ground, tears starting to form in his eyes. He hoped the boys would warm up to each other because if not they would never be a team.


	9. Day 1 Together

Harry reached the camp first and went straight inside his tent. He really didn’t want to see the other boys. Zipping the tent shut, Harry attempted to mediate. Liam collected wood on the way back from the lake. Thinking ahead, the boy was planning on starting a fire for dinner. Liam always tried to be one step ahead of things, it was something Roberts had taught him.

“Hey you” Liam called out at Zayn “Would you mind starting the fire?” Liam set down the final piece of wood and looked at Zayn waiting for him to use his powers. “I’m good” Zayn replied going inside a tent.

“What do you mean good? Your power is fire correct?” Liam asked, anger showing in his voice. “I don’t want to use my powers” Zayn declared, shutting the tent.

“Fine” Liam yelled “I don’t need your help anyway I can do this without anyone’s help.” The boy sat in the middle of the campsite rubbing two sticks together trying to make a spark. After minutes of creating nothing Liam was beginning to feel frustrated. Anger began boiling inside the boy. “What are you doing” a voice asked from behind Liam.

“I’m trying to make a fire if it wasn’t obvious” Liam snapped, seeing it was Louis who asked him. “How’s that going?” Louis questioned, ignoring the daggers Liam was shooting at him.

“It’s going just fine” Liam spat his face getting red in anger. “Can I try” Louis said, stepping forward and grabbing two sticks. “If it will get you to shut up and leave me alone then sure” Liam sassed. Louis rolled his eyes and rubbed the sticks together, but not as rough as Liam and in no time sparks flew off the wood. “Coraline taught me how” Louis remarked, smiling at his work.

“Whatever” Liam mumbled moving away from the fire and Louis. Liam was shocked Louis could do something better than him. Roberts kept telling Liam how dumb Coraline was and how helpless Louis would be. Going inside his tent Liam zipped the front shut and tried to cool down. His anger was beginning to scare him as he felt the ground crack underneath him.

Louis stared sadly as Liam left him. Now the boy was the only one in the middle of the campsite. Sitting awkwardly on the ground, Louis sighed and played with his thumbs. The rustling of the leaves and snapping of sticks made the boy snap his head up. The blonde entered the site and sat down the opposite end of the fire trying to stay as far away as he could from Louis. “What’s for dinner” Niall asked, rubbing his stomach.

Louis shrugged “Beats me. Want to help me get some food?”

“Maybe” Niall said unsure “What do you want me to do exactly?”

“Can you help me get some fruit from the trees? I’ll get the meat” Louis said, pushing himself up from the ground. Niall nodded his head and turned around to enter the woods. “Hey wait for me” Louis called out running after Niall. 

Niall looked shocked. No one ever wanted to hang out with the blonde or walk with him. He remembered all the time spent alone is his room. Niall was used to being alone and he found it weird people actually wanted to hang out with him. Stopping in his tracks, Louis caught up to the boy and gave him a smile. “So how did the Freedom Fighters find you” Louis asked, trying to break the silence. “That is something I’d rather not share” Niall replied picking up the pace in his walk. 

“That’s fine” Louis added “How about you tell me a little about yourself.” Niall was stunned he had no idea what to say. The blonde wasn’t even sure what he liked exactly. It’s not like he experienced a lot to be able to decide what he did and didn’t like. “There’s not much to know about me. I’m nothing special. So tell me about yourself” Niall said quickly, trying to change the subject.

Louis wanted to disagree and push the blonde to talk, but he knew he shouldn’t. Niall could run off again or freak out and Louis definitely didn’t want that. Deciding he’d ask Niall about his past a different day he answered “Well I lived in a cave with my parents before the Freedom Fighters found him. My parents were the best. They were really supporting and I miss them a lot”.

“Are they alive” Niall asked. “Yea they still live in the caves. They visit monthly but you know it’s not the same.”

“Yea” Niall replied sadness filling his eyes. He would do anything to trade places with Louis. The blonde knew Louis didn’t realize how lucky he was to have such loving parents. Niall craved a loving relationship with anyone. The conversation ended there as Niall began picking fruit from the trees. Louis caught two bunnies using his powers. Controlling vines Louis grabbed the rabbits as they were running past the boys. The animals struggled in the grasp of the plant and yelped in panic.

“What are you waiting for” Niall asked “Kill them”. Louis’s eyes filled with tears at the mere thought of hurting the animals. He thought he could be brave and kill them, but they were too innocent. “I can’t” Louis sighed releasing the bunnies from the vines. Watching the animals scurry off Louis looked at the ground disappointed in himself. He was supposed to be strong. They were just bunnies how could Louis be such a whimp. Coraline would be so disappointed in Louis seeing him release bunnies.

“Looks like dinner will be fruit tonight then” Niall remarked “Want to help me pick some then?” Louis looked at the blonde surprised the boy wasn’t making fun of him. “You’re not going to laugh” Louis asked.

“Why would I?” Niall questioned “Let’s head back it’s starting to get dark”. The way back was silent. Each boy had their arms full with fruit. They picked berries and nuts from the trees and bushes. It wasn’t a lot, but enough to hold the five boys over till morning. “Dinner” Louis yelled when he entered camp. The sound of tent unzipping filled the air and the boy was hit with excitement. Maybe now the boys could start bonding and start a friendship Louis thought.

“Is that it” Liam scoffed seeing Niall and Louis just holding fruit. “Yes” Louis said angrily “You don’t like it, why don’t you go get your own dinner”.

“Maybe I will” Liam screamed stomping off. Niall set down the fruit in his hand onto the ground and watched Harry emerge from his tent. The blonde offered some fruit to the boy smiling as he pointed down to the food. Harry lifted up the fruit from Niall using the wind and carried back to his tent. Niall’s face dropped as he watched all the food he picked float away. “You going to leave any for us” Louis sassed.

“Oh where are my manners” Harry joked and threw one berry at Niall. Harry zipped up his tent, leaving Louis the only one with dinner. “Hey asshole get out here I want to talk to you” Louis yelled setting down the food.

“Stop” Niall whispered “It’s fine I wasn’t that hungry anyway. You and Zayn can split it”. And with that the blonde put his head down and walked sadly into the tent. 

Zayn sat down on the ground and muttered “Thanks”. Louis stared at Niall’s tent feeling like he should go in there and talk to the blonde. But he decided not to because he didn’t really know the boy yet. I mean they weren’t really friends Louis thought.

Louis and Zayn ate in silence, juice running down their faces from the fruit. Liam barged into camp some time later holding a dead deer making Louis gag. “What did you do” Louis screamed, looking at the dead deer horrified.

“I got dinner” Liam replied, smiling at his prize. Louis felt warm tears run down his face as he stared in the dead animal’s eyes. “What’s the matter?” Liam taunted “Don’t like seeing animals get hurt”. Louis didn’t respond which gave Liam his answer.

Liam walked over and shoved the dead animal in Louis’s face and yelled “Grow up. We have to kill to survive. How do you think we are going to defeat the Fearsome Five by talking nicely to them? Death is a part of this world and you need to get used to it”. Zayn looked at Louis with pity, but didn’t say anything. He took one final berry before hiding in his tent.

“I hate this” Louis muttered under his breath. “What did you say” Liam barked “You don’t like this. Oh boo hoo cry me a river. We are here to save the world not make friends”.

“How are we supposed to save the world if we all hate each other” Louis asked “I mean we know practically nothing about each other. We are supposed to be a team and teams need to at least like each other. I don’t even know the extent of everyone’s powers”.

“You have a point. Tomorrow we shall try to get to know each other and our powers” Liam declared. Louis nodded his head, feeling butterflies form in his stomach. The boy was excited to get to know the others. Fearing the four boys wouldn’t like Louis crept into the boy’s mind. Louis hoped tomorrow would be the day everyone would bond. Maybe Niall and Zayn would tear down their walls that they guard so well and open up to everyone. Louis went into his tent before Liam started cutting open the deer. The sounds of Liam tearing off the skin could not be blocked out though, making the boy empty his dinner all over his tent.

*******

Light filled Harry's tent in the morning, waking the boy up. Quietly he slipped out of his tent deciding to take a stroll in the woods. The sun was rising and Harry looked at it in disgust. Flipping the sun off Harry grumbled to himself about how annoyed he was at the other boys. Seeing a rabbit hop past him, Harry quickly blew a gust of wind at it lifting the animal off the ground. The bunny squirmed as it rose higher and higher going past the trees. Harry smiled evilly and released the animal watching it fall to its death. He could have sworn he heard the bunny scream before it smacked the ground snapping its neck. The sickening crunch was music to Harry's ears, making his stomach growl for breakfast. Giving one last look at his work Harry skipped back to the campsite humming a happy tune. Harry felt a lot calmer and more content walking back to the others. Killing things always seemed to calm Harry down.

By the time Harry arrived at the camp Liam and Louis were up. Harry sensed tension between the boys and decided he would just go back in his tent. He still had some leftover fruit from last night. "Where do you think you're going" Liam growled at Harry. "Back to my tent" Harry responded coldly.

"No you're not. Today we are practicing with our powers" Liam declared not giving Harry a choice. "We're also going to get to know each other more" Louis added.

"Yea because that is what's important, not saving the world or anything like that" Liam shot back glaring at Louis. "Fine I’ll do your stupid practice, but only for a little bit" Harry said not really wanting to argue with Liam. "Good" Liam responded "Now it's time to wake up the others and begin training". “And how are going to wake them up. Don’t you remember I already tried to wake Zayn and he threw a fire ball at me” Louis snapped holding up his burnt shirt. The boy attempted to wake Niall as well but was hit with a stream of water knocking Louis on his butt. Liam was on the ground laughing seeing Louis soaking wet. Liam loved watching Louis fail it made him feel superior.

“My turn” Liam remarked, slamming his foot on the ground. The boy sent tiny earthquakes to both Niall and Zayn's tents. The tents shook and swayed eventually collapsing from the ground shaking so much. Niall screamed and thrashed around in his tent. Confusion took over the boy and for a second he thought he was back at his old home in the castle. Zayn's tent was up in flames and Louis jumped up from his seat. "Niall get out of your tent now" Louis screamed, seeing the flames traveling over to Niall’s tent. Zayn hated he couldn’t control his emotions. The tent falling and earthquake had scared the boy and he had lost control for just that moment. In that second Zayn set the tent on fire. He tried salvaging anything in his tent like clothes or personal belongings but it was no use. Everything Zayn touched caught on fire and he was beginning to get frustrated. Taking a deep breath Zayn tried putting out the flames around him. The blonde emerged from his tent and saw the fire.

"What the hell" Niall yelled, seeing the fire inches away from his tent. Quickly thinking Niall took the water out of the nearby grass and threw it onto the flames. A sizzling sound filled the air as the water hit the fire. Smoke rose from the dead flames. Niall took more water from another patch of grass and waved it over to Zayn's tent. Releasing the water onto the tent the fire instantly went out.

A soaking wet Zayn climbed out of his destroyed tent looking extremely pissed off. Smoke poured off the boy's body as he shook with anger. "What the fuck happened” he screamed his whole body now on fire.

Liam and Harry backed away slowly from Zayn afraid to get burned. Louis was to in shock to move. Zayn was on fire, literally on fire and Louis had no idea what to do. "Zayn please calm down" Niall pleaded "I know the earthquake scared you and I know you freaked yourself out by being on fire. But it's okay."

"Who sent the earthquake and woke me up at this ungodly hour" Zayn questioned his flames beginning to calm down. "Liam did" Niall told taking a step closer to the boy on fire.

"Stay back" Zayn screamed "I don't want to hurt you". "You won't" Niall said "Besides even if you do its fine I deserve it. I can heal myself.” Niall quickly threw in seeing concerned looks from Zayn and Louis. “Let me help you" the blonde begged. Zayn nodded his head and allowed Niall to inch closer. Niall closed his eyes and took water from a tree, making the plant wither and die. With the water Niall put the flames out on Zayn. "Thanks" Zayn mumbled squeezing his shirt making water drip off.

Liam looked at all the dead grass from where Niall took water. The grass was brown and had no life. The tree which was big and plump before was now skinny and wrinkled. It fell to the ground revealing leaves that were once green were now dead and shriveled up. "That was amazing Niall" Liam complimented.

"You're getting me a new tent or you are giving me yours" Zayn threatened staring intently at Liam. "Well maybe if you had better control of your powers this wouldn't have happened" Liam taunted.

"Excuse me" Zayn yelled his hands catching on fire once more. "Guys please stop" Louis pleaded, standing in between Zayn and Liam. "I'm going to go cool off. When I get back here I better have a new tent" Zayn growled. "The least you could do is apologize" Zayn sighed not really wanting to argue or fight "I had everything in there. I had drawings of my parents and all my clothes". Zayn ran off into the woods before the others could see him cry. That was the last picture he had of his parents. He drew it a couple months after they died when the images of them were still fresh in his head. Without the drawing he feared he would forget what his parents would look like. Zayn would stare at the photo every night trying to remember his parents and everything they did for him. Anger seized inside of him and he tried hard not to catch on fire again. He wouldn't burn down another camp the boy swore not like his old one. Images of his old community burning to the ground filled the boy’s head and he started sobbing. “I’m sorry” he mumbled falling down in to the fetal position grasping his head. 

"Great job" Louis sassed turning to Liam. Harry chuckled "You guys are crazy and that means a lot coming from me. Is practice over or what because I think I saw everything I needed to today".

"We will call it a day, but tomorrow I want to see what you can do Harry. Don’t hold back. Hopefully you can do more than Niall and Zayn.."Liam replied. "Cool well see you later" Harry called out heading out into the woods. "Hey Niall" Liam called "Is there anything else you can do or is that it?”

Niall looked at the ground sadly and said "That's really it. I can't do anything cool like you guys. My dad was right, I really am good for nothing". The blonde turned and walked away, heading in the direction of the lake.

"Wow Liam. I think you did the opposite of making friends. We are further apart from when we got here" Louis said sadly "You're doing a great job at being a leader. Niall wait" Louis yelled trying to run after the blonde.

"Whatever" Liam replied, looking at the ground, kicking a rock. Louis sighed and walked to his tent zipping it shut. Liam thought to himself about his actions. He really was being mean and a hard ass. The boys needed to get close. Maybe a mission would bring them closer together. The past was what was keeping the boys apart. In order for them to grow close they needed to face their problems together not separately. Liam smiled at the plan. They were going to go to the city and get a new tent and supplies. They would learn more about each other. He couldn't to wait to tell the others about the plan. I mean what could possibly go wrong.


	10. The Night Before the Mission

"We are going into the nearest town for supplies" Liam declared at the four boys sitting around him. The boy had called a meeting and was surprised how long it took to gather all the lads. Let’s just say it took over an hour to gather all the heroes. Niall sat by himself in the corner hugging his knees, making Liam feel like he should hug the blonde. Zayn glared at Liam clearly still pissed about the other day.

"Are we sure that is safe" Louis shot back. Liam sighed, why did Louis always have to be on his back, watching his every move. "You want us to bond correct" Liam asked, beginning to lose his cool.

"Yes"

"Well this the only way. We need something to bring us closer together and obviously being here isn't working. I believe this can work and since I’m leader what I say is final" Liam beamed hoping he was making Roberts proud for taking the leadership role.

"Who died and made you the leader" Harry asked staring coldly at Liam. The boy was taken aback by Harry's dark tone.

"We needed one so I appointed myself " Liam replied, giving Louis a pleading look. Louis looked away signaling Liam was all on his own.

Rolling his eyes Harry shouted "There is no way in hell I am taking orders from you. I only listen to myself."

"Fine you don't have to listen to me, but will you at least come with us" Liam suggested.

"I'll go but I might not come back. The world can suck it. I could care less if everyone died as long as I'm alive."

That's a horrible way of living Zayn thought to himself. Sure the boy wasn't close to anyone but he felt the world was worth fighting for. If it wasn’t then what was the pint of living. Protecting the world gave Zayn a purpose and helped keep him sane after all those years. "I'll go" Niall mumbled. Liam smiled at the blonde clearly happy he was going along with his plan. Staring into the blonde’s eyes Liam felt like he was drowning in Niall’s blue eyes. Sighing Zayn said "Count me in". Zayn didn't want Niall to be all alone with Liam. He felt very protective towards the blonde and he didn’t know why. Maybe it was because of the innocent vibe he gave off or he reminded him of his part life. The life where he lived happily with his family. Sometimes Zayn felt like Niall had it worse than him and he wasn’t sure why.

Louis and Harry agreed to the plan and it was decided they would leave in the morning when the sun rose. "Hey Liam" Louis called out running after the boy.

"What? Did you come to tell me how dumb my plan is?" Liam sighed packing up his tent.

"No I came to tell you I'm sorry for giving you so much trouble and I was hoping we could be friends."

"Thanks I'm sorry for being such an ass. I wanted to prove myself as a strong leader, but I came across as a dick and pushed everyone apart. I hope this trip will help bring everyone together. Maybe we could become friends during the mission."

"I'm sure it will. Well, I'm going to go finish packing" Louis said, turning away from Liam. The boy was beyond happy. Now he and Liam were almost friends, all he needed to do was work his magic on the other three lads. For some reason he thought Niall would be the hardest one to get close to since the boy blocked everyone out. Whenever anyone came near him he would flinch and back away. Harry just needed and hug and Zayn needed to learn to control his emotions. Louis skipped to his tent and put some clothes in his backpack. While packing, Louis imagined everyone becoming friends and saving the world. 

He thought about Niall opening up and allowing people to see him smile. Zayn not sulking around scared to get close to anyone. Harry not being so dark and scary. And Liam not being such a hard ass. Louis laughed picturing the lads, hope filling the boy.

Zayn had nothing to pack since he lost everything in the fire. Instead he volunteered to grab some food for the road. His mind filled with everything that could go wrong on the trip. Scavengers could attack the boys or what if the Fearsome Five come. Anxiety took over Zayn and he saw his hands were on fire. “Shit” he exclaimed as he ran towards the lake. Plunging his smoking hands in the water Zayn sighed in relief.

Niall watched Zayn from under the water debating on whether he should say something or not. Watching the boy pace back and forth Niall decided to stay quiet. Water was the only place the blonde felt safe. This was the one place his father couldn't hurt him. Sinking deeper in the water the blonde watched the surface world become farther away. Fish swam around Niall as he sat at the bottom of the lake. Closing his eyes he hoped Zayn would leave. 

Once Zayn cooled off, he headed back into the woods to finish picking fruit. He knew Niall was in the water. The boy saw the big blue eyes staring at him. Zayn was pretty sure Niall forgot the water was crystal clear and he could see through it. Feeling disappointed, the blonde didn't say something Zayn continued to pick some berries. Was Niall scared of him, he thought. He did almost burn down Niall's tent. The blonde hated him, Zayn thought tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"Why do I hurt everyone I like” Zayn mumbled, his eyes becoming watery.

"Are you okay Zayn" a concerned Irish voice asked. Turning around Zayn was surprised to see Niall. "What are you doing here I thought you were scared of me".

Niall looked confused and asked "Why would I be scared of you"

"Because I'm a monster"

"I've met people a lot worse than you."

"Really? Then why did you hide from me in the water"

“Wait how you knew I was in the water” Niall asked blushing looking at the ground.

“Niall the water is practically see through”

“Oh”

“But I understand you were scared to talk to me. I would be scared to talk to me too”

"Zayn people in general scare me not just you. Let's just say in my eyes everyone is a monster"

Zayn waited for Niall to explain himself but he never did. Zayn was curious about the blonde who had so much pain hidden in his eyes. "I'm heading back" Niall said after a couple of seconds. Zayn watched him walk back and felt pity for the boy. What could make someone like Niall so sad and scared of people?

At least he said something to Zayn. He made his presence known and Zayn knew Niall was taking baby steps to opening up. Wiping his eyes which still threatened to spill tears, the boy finished getting food his mind always wandering back to Niall.

"Thanks" Louis said when Zayn handed him the bag of fruit. "You know if you ever want to talk my tent is always open" he added.

"I'll keep that in mind" Zayn said turning to leave. "I hope we can be friends one day Zayn" Louis mumbled. Zayn didn't turn around pretending he didn’t hear the comment and kept walking. He heard a sad sigh come from Louis and guilt ate away in his stomach. But Zayn knew if he got close to Louis he would end up hurting him just like his parents.

Zayn soon realized he didn't have a tent to hide in anymore. Groaning the boy tried to figure out where he could hide till morning. Harry chuckled, seeing Zayn struggle. "What's wrong nowhere to hide" Harry joked.

"Shut up" Zayn growled.

"Or else what? Are you going to burn down my tent?" Harry taunted acting like he was on fire. Rolling on the ground, he pretended his whole body was in flames. Harry screamed faking being in pain. Zayn's face grew red with shame and embarrassment.

"God Harry you such an ass" Louis exclaimed, running up to the two boys. Louis was on the other side of the camp when he heard Harry yell. Smiling evilly Harry skipped off before Louis arrived at the scene.

Harry used the air to push himself up into a tall tree. He waved at Louis sticking out his tongue as he flew to the next tree. Rolling his eyes at Harry, Louis ran over to Zayn. "I'm so sorry about Harry".

"It's fine." Zayn snapped storming off. Louis felt like he could pull his hair out. Why were the boys being such jerks to each other? If they just opened up none of this would happen. This will be an interesting trip Louis thought watching Zayn walk off smoke leaving his body.

Niall hid in his tent and didn’t come out for the rest of the night. Louis offered Zayn to use his tent to sleep in but Zayn declined. Sitting outside Louis waited for Harry to return. Much to his dismay Harry never came back and Louis called it quits deciding to go to bed. Liam slept like a baby he wanted to be full energy for the start of the mission tomorrow. He was ready to work with the boys and help break down their barriers. But the boy, though was not ready to face his demons yet. He hadn’t thought about his mother in years. Tonight though he dreamt of her, finding her mangled body, hearing her screams and knowing he could do nothing about. Shriving Liam tried to ignore the memories, but they kept seeping into his mind and dreams.

Harry hid in a big tree next to the campsite. The branches concealed his presence fro, the lads. The second they got into the city Harry was planning on leaving the group. If they tried to stop him Harry was ready to do whatever was necessary to escape. Being in this group reminded the boy of Gemma and the other scavengers he used to live with. He didn’t want to lose anyone close to him so Harry refused to get close to people. If that meant being a psychopath then he would do it. Killing living creatures made Harry feel in control. He wished he could do that to the people who killed his parents and Gemma. The boy knew Simon killed Gemma to stay alive, but that still doesn’t mean he has forgiven the man for doing it. One day he would make Simon pay, but today was not the day. Harry was weak the day when Simon attacked. He refused to ever be weak ever again and made sure people thought he was strong. Harry would rather have everyone scared of him then have them walk all over him. Harry still wasn’t sure when he started killing. His first real kill came at the camp with Evan the soldier his age. Harry only did it so the other soldiers wouldn’t think he was some weak kid and everyday he regretted it. Evan did nothing wrong but the world was cruel. Harry was just surviving. “I miss you Gemma” Harry mumbled before falling asleep.

“You’re worthless. No will ever love you” Niall whispered to himself rocking back and forth in his tent. He knew none of the lads liked him and never would. Who could ever love an ugly, pathetic loser? Niall couldn’t do anything right. He couldn’t save his mom or brother so how could he save the world. “I wish I died in the fire” the blonde said, tears running down his face. Why did the world hate him so much? Why wouldn’t the world let him die? Instead they gave him the useless power of healing himself. That night Niall cried himself to sleep knowing he would die alone in this world with no one ever loving him.

Zayn was a monster. No matter how hard he tried he could never control his powers. He would end up hurting everyone he likes. Zayn refused to hurt the lads well excerpt Harry because that boy deserved to get his ass whooped. Sleeping on the ground Zayn pictured his family whose bodies were still lying on the ground. They were never buried. He gagged imagining animals eating his mom and dad’s remains. None of them deserved such gruesome deaths. They all should have gotten buried, but because of Zayn they didn’t. His friends should have grown up and his parents should have had more kids. But Zayn ruined everything. ‘I am good for nothing’ Zayn thought ‘I’m just a time bomb. I’ll hurt everyone.’ The boy fell into a restless sleep on a patch of grass next to Niall’s tent.

Louis woke up first in the morning. Time for the mission he thought. He went to wake up the others feeling nervous about the trip. Everything could go wrong. The boys were risking so much by going on it. What if one of them died? What if Harry ditched? So many what ifs gave Louis anxiety. “Here goes nothing” he muttered to himself. 

“Lads get up it’s time to go” Louis yelled.


	11. The Start of the Journey

Niall crawled out of his tent slowly. He saw Liam and Louis were already up, and were packing up their tents. Zayn was still asleep and the boys feared waking him up because he was not a morning person. Last time they tried waking him up, he nearly burned down the campsite. Looking around Niall couldn't find Harry anywhere. "Where is Harry?"

Louis shrugged, clearly annoyed at Niall for asking him. "He never came back last night" Liam replied, beginning to take down the blonde's tent. "Can you go fill up the canteens since you aren't really doing anything. Go make yourself useful". Liam threw some canteens at Niall not checking to see if the boy caught them or not.

Taking the bottles, Niall headed toward the lake feeling relieved. He was glad to go to the water one last time before they left. As we walked in the woods, he heard snoring coming from one of the trees. "Hello" Niall called out.

He heard a scream and saw the tree rustle. Harry fell from the tree startled by Niall waking him up. The blonde shielded his eyes, afraid to see the boy hit the ground. Right before Harry hit the grass though, he stopped himself. Looking he saw Harry was hovering a couple inches off of the ground.

"That was close" he sighed, meeting eyes with Niall. "How could you be so stupid? I could kill you right now for your ignorance".

"Then do it" Niall challenged a small part of him, hoping Harry would actually kill him.

Harry tempted with the challenge obliged, and lifted up his hands slowly raising Niall into the sky. This was just like all the animals he killed and Evan. "Come on Harry. If you don't you will be weak" the boy muttered quietly. As Niall rose above the tree line, Harry got ready to drop him.

Second thoughts filled the boy, though. Niall never did anything wrong. How could they defeat the Fearsome Five if there was no Niall? Now that he thought about it, he found it weird the blonde wasn't fighting back. It was like Niall thought he deserved death. Could Harry really kill another innocent person that didn't really do anything wrong.

After battling with himself for a couple seconds, Harry sighed in defeat and slowly brought Niall back to the ground. "I can't do it" he said to the blonde. Harry killed people who fought back, not ones who welcomed death. 

Niall looked slightly disappointed. "We are leaving soon. You should head back to camp the others are worried about you"

"That is bullshit"

"I know but we do need you"

"Whatever" Harry said, kicking a pile of dirt. "Just know letting you live doesn't mean I am weak. I only let you live to help fight the Fearsome Five and that is it"

"Yea. I know my life is pretty useless. Hopefully I won't survive the battle against the Fearsome Five" Niall admitted turning away from Harry.

"Wait" Harry called out trying to grab the blonde's arm. Niall shrugged him off and continued towards the lake. "Fine be that way asshole" Harry yelled stomping to the camp.

Louis looked up from his job to see Harry. "Look who finally decided to show up" Louis scoffed, still pissed about last night.

"Oh come off it"

"You owe Zayn an apology"

"I owe nobody nothing. You are lucky I am coming with you on this stupid trip"

"Well good thing we don't need or want you" Louis said feeling a sense of accomplicement when he saw a flash of hurt in Harry’s eyes. He knew he definitely hit a touchy subject with Harry. 

Harry screamed, sending a blast of air at Louis. Louis was hit square in the chest and had the breath knocked out of him. The boy was thrown roughly to the ground, scraping both of his arms when he smacked the earth. He yelped in pain and saw Harry was getting ready to send another wave of wind.

"Harry stop" Liam ordered standing protectively in front of Louis. "Are you okay" he asked, looking at Louis.

Louis nodded his head yes and Liam turned back to face Harry. "Whatever happened last night needs to be forgotten. Get over it".

All the commotion woke Zayn up and the boy growled sitting up from the grass. He saw Louis on the ground bleeding and felt himself fill with worry. He didn't like seeing his friends hurt. Well technically him and Louis weren’t friends but he didn’t hate the kid so that meant something. Getting up quickly, Zayn saw Harry was the cause of Louis's pain. Anger filled the boy and felt his body get hotter.

"Tell that asshole to apologize now" Harry demanded, raising his hands threatenly in the air.

"Why should I. I was simply telling the truth" Louis spat definitely not earning brownie points with Harry. 

“Not helping Louis” Liam whispered getting in a defensive position. He crouched his knees and centered himself in front of Louis. 

Screaming in anger, Harry sent another gust of wind at Louis while he still laid helplessly on the ground. If the wind hit Louis he could quite possibly injure himself worst. The gust got closer lifting up rocks and dirt. Louis closed his eyes bracing himself for the pain. 

Liam rose up a wall of earth to shield him and Louis from the blast. Louis sighed in relief when he realized he was safe. Who knew Liam would be the one defending Louis. Zayn darted over and tackled Harry sending him to the ground. Harry struggled in Zayn's grip.

Touching Zayn's skin Harry screamed in pain, because his skin was boiling hot. Liam grabbed Louis and pushed him to safety. Liam brought up a mound of dirt for Louis to hide behind. "Stay here while I calm down Harry" Liam ordered not wanting Louis to get hurt. 

"Let Harry go" Liam commanded, seeing Harry squirm in the boy’s grip. Zayn did as he was told and released the lad. "Harry please calm down before you seriously hurt someone"

"How can I calm down when you think I'm useless and you don't want him. I am not weak. I don't need any of you. I can kill you at any moment" Harry yelled, a tornado beginning to form around him. Harry was letting his emotions get the best of him as he lost control of his powers. The boy's hair blew around as the high winds took over the camp.

Liam took Zayn's hand and said "We need to get back and let him cool down. He has lost control just like you". Zayn nodded his head, and they went to get Louis. Once they were together, Liam surrounded them in a bubble of Earth, which protected them from the tornado. The three boys crouched together, while the winds beat against the earth protecting them.

Niall came running back to camp the second he saw the tornado. He watched Harry stand in the center of it hysterically crying. The winds grew more strong, and were threatening to rip up trees. This definitely was not Simon’s definition of staying low. Niall made his way to the center of the storm, to Harry.

"Harry" Niall croaked "You're okay. Please stop"

"I can't I'm too upset. You need to get out of here before I hurt you"

"No I won't leave you"

Niall finally reached Harry and wrapped his arms around the boy. Harry fell into his arms, crying the winds beginning to die down. Sobbing, Harry released all the pain he had been holding in for those years.

"Am I useless?"

"No you are one the strongest boy I know"

"I don't want everyone to hate me. I just don't know how to let people get close to me. I fear once I let people get close they will die and I won't be able to protect them" Harry confessed, crying even more.

"Hey I don't hate you" Niall shushed, rubbing Harry's back. "Maybe you should try letting people in and stop being an ass. Just try opening up. Start by apologizing to Louis and Zayn." Harry nodded his head liking the idea. Niall quietly muttered "I am the weak and useless one out of the group not you".

"Okay" Harry said listening to the blonde's advice. The boy hadn't heard Niall's last comment. The earth that Liam, Louis, and Zayn hid in cracked open. A very angry Louis appeared glaring intently at Harry.

"Sorry I lost my cool" Harry confessed, rubbing his hand sheepishly. Louis was getting ready to say something rude back when he saw stopped by Liam.

Liam whispered something in Louis's ear, making the boy sigh. "Fine I'm sorry too. I might have gone a little too far"

"Good now that this all settled, let us start the journey to the nearest town. I want to reach the roads before nightfall" Liam said taking charge.

Niall saw Louis's arms were scraped up pretty badly and were still bleeding. "Louis let me see your arms".

"I'm fine Niall"

"No you're not. You are bleeding. Now give me your hand"

Louis obliged and let Niall take his hand. Taking out a canteen of water, Niall poured it on the bleeding arm. Louis flinched when the cold water hit him. "You are such a baby" Niall muttered smirking.

Niall raised his free hand over Louis and controlled the water, making it go to the wounds. The water washed away the blood and closed up the cut. Louis gasped, seeing his wound disappear. "Wow Niall that was amazing" Louis beamed touching his healed arm. He poked the area that was just bleeding moments ago making Zayn roll his eyes. 

"It was nothing" Niall said, feeling uncomfortable with the praise he was receiving.

"Are you guys ready" Liam asked, changing the subject. He packed up the last tent and threw it at Louis. All four boys agreed and they started their journey. Liam led and Zayn took the back. Harry walked close to Niall taking a liking to the blonde.

Louis kept a careful eye on Harry, not truly trusting the boy yet. He didn't like how close Harry was getting to Niall. Zayn felt relieved he wasn't the only one who lost control of his powers. He took pity on Harry. He knew how much it sucked to lose control for just a second. One second could cost someone their life. 

"Hey Harry can you come over here" Zayn asked. Harry slowed his pace and allowed Zayn to catch up to him. "I just wanted to tell you I forgive you for the words you said to me last night".

"Thanks. I didn't really mean any of it"

"It's fine. Maybe we can help each other, control our powers better"

"I would like that Zayn" Harry said, almost pulling Zayn into a hug. But he didn't. Instead Harry skipped ahead feeling slightly better about himself.

The boys traveled through the woods in silence. It was just them and their thoughts. Each boy carried a backpack filled with a pair of clothes, the tent, some food, and whatever else they wanted to bring well except Zayn who lost everything in the fire. Niall began falling behind, his bag getting a little too heavy for him. The blonde was not as strong as the other boys and it also didn't help that he was carrying all the water.

"Let me help" Zayn asked, taking Niall's bag.

"It's fine. I can do it"

"I know you can but let me help. I mean I have literally nothing in my bag. See" Zayn said, unzipping the backpack. Peering inside, Niall saw the boy wasn't lying.

"Okay" Niall replied, putting the waters in Zayn's bag. The backpack felt ten times lighter and Niall had no trouble keeping up with the others now. "Thanks" he mumbled to Zayn.

"No problem. Glad I could help"

The trees seemed to never end. Everything looked the same. "Are we sure we aren't lost. I could have sworn we passed this tree like 5 times" Harry whined.

"Not all trees look the same" Louis sassed. "Besides the forest tells me we are on the right path".

"Oh yea, I forgot you talked to trees" Harry joked cracking a tiny smile. Louis rolled his eyes and silence once again filled the five boys. The more time he spent with the lads, the less Harry wanted to ditch them.

The road came into view the five boys were filled with a new found adrenaline. "Thank god" Liam muttered as he stepped onto the cracked concrete.

"Which way now" Zayn asked, seeing the road led in many directions and they could only go in one direction. Liam stomped his foot in the ground, sending out vibrations in all directions. He sat in silence for a couple of moments before responding "That way". He pointed to the left.

Liam waited to see if anyone wanted to argue with him, but to his surprise no one did. "Shall we go" Louis asked giving Liam a thumbs up.

"Let's take a break and then we can start on the road" Liam suggested.

"Good because I have been holding in pee for the last four hours" Harry exclaimed, running off to the trees.

"I can't believe how much Harry has opened up" Zayn commented, watching Harry scurry off.

"Yea, but I still don't trust him. He seems nice now, but what if he loses control again. Or what if it is just an act. I mean we still know nothing about him" Louis said frowning slightly.

Niall sat down in the shade wiping sweat off of his face. He never imagined ever being on a journey. He thought he would still be trapped in his room getting daily visits from his dad. Now here he was free and away from his father. "How you doing Niall?" Liam questioned sitting down next to the blonde. There arms slightly touched, making Niall flinch. "Sorry" Liam apologized.

Niall moved a couple inches away from Liam and replied "It's okay". Louis and Zayn joined them and Niall felt very uncomfortable. He didn't like being surrounded. What if they tried to hurt him?

Coming back from his wee, Harry sat down next to Niall. "So I think we should try and get to know each other. Maybe we can talk about our pasts and open up" Louis suggested.

The air around Louis got very hostile as each lad glared at him. "No way in hell I am telling you about my past" Harry yelled getting up.

"Me either" Zayn chimed in.

"Why not" Louis asked, not understanding why everyone was reacting this way.

"What did you think we were all friends? We aren't, we are just putting up with each other This is not some fun roadtrip. No this is the real world where people die everyday" Harry said getting in Louis's face. "Do you think I really want to hear about how perfect your childhood was compared to mine? I bet your parents are still alive. They are aren’t they?". Louis nodded his head yes and Harry screamed in frustration.

"The past is meant to stay in the past Louis. Listen, I don't know you well enough and I don't plan on it" Zayn said moving away from the lads.

"Way to ruin the moment" Liam said, shaking his head. "You moved way too fast. It's only the first day. Be patient". Niall remained silent, there was no way he would open up about his father. He still never told Paul the whole story.

After a couple of minutes Liam said "Break over. Let's start getting ready to go". Groaning, Harry got up no longer his happy jokey self. He was now back to the crazy, unpredictable side that scared Louis. Everyone seemed a lot more closed off since the break.

"Watch where you are going" Zayn snapped when Niall bumped into him. "What are you stupid or something"?

“Enough" Liam barked not in the mood for bickering. Liam noticed that Niall, though never stuck up for himself, he would take the pain and insults without complaining.

Zayn realized he snapped and knew he didn't mean anything he said. Quickly he apologized, saying "Niall I didn't mean it. I am just a little on edge".

"It's fine. I am stupid" Niall replied.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Put yourself down like that"

"Because I am a waste of space" Niall declared, leaving Zayn to go to the front. Zayn tried to make the blonde stay, but he was at a loss of words.

When the sun started to set Liam decided to set up camp for the night at the edge of the woods. He sent Louis to gather firewood, Niall to fill up the waters, and Zayn and Harry to set up the campsite. He secretly told Zayn to keep an eye on Harry and make sure he didn't try to leave. Liam on the other hand went to get dinner.

Liam returned with a dead deer and a pile of fruit. "It didn't suffer" Liam told Louis when he saw the boy's face. "I know you won't eat it, so I got you some fruit instead".

"Thank you" Louis responded, taking an apple. Zayn started the fire, once Louis put down the firewood. Harry offered to cook the deer, claiming he knew how to make the meat nice and tender. Liam quickly skinned the animal and gave the meat to Harry. Harry poked sticks through the raw meat and held it over the fire slowly rotating it. Niall returned with the water a short time later and his mouth was soon watering when he smelled the meat.

The boys sat around the fire, watching Harry roast the deer. Louis covered his nose and tried to ignore the popping and sizzling sounds coming from the dead animal. "It's done" Harry claimed removing the sticks from the fire. He handed each boy a stick, except for Louis who got another apple.

Zayn took a bite of the deer and savored the taste. He hadn't tasted anything this good since his days at the Treehouse Community. Niall pretty much ate his share in one bite. The other four couldn't believe Niall had eaten the meat so quickly. It was like his mouth unhinged and he sucked it up like a vacuum. Liam took his time eating the deer, not sure when the next meal would be.

"This is really good Harry. Where did you learn to cook like this" Liam asked with a mouth full of food.

"The people I used to be with taught me. I used to cook for Gem...” Harry said, quickly cutting himself off. He gave out too much information and Harry regretted it. The other lads though, didn't push Harry for more information instead they continued to eat dinner.

"This apple is really good" Louis said, breaking the silence. "Really nice and juicy. Much better than the meat".

"You wish" Zayn sassed, hiding his smile with the food.

"Niall do you want seconds" Harry asked, hearing the blonde's stomach growl. Niall nodded his head yes blushing. Harry thought the blonde was adorable when he blushed. "Here you go" he said, handing another piece of meat to Niall.

"Thanks" Niall replied, taking a bite out of the deer. Harry looked around and really took in the other guys. To say in the least they were all gorgeous. Zayn's jawline was beyond perfection, he looked like a model. Liam was a giant puppy with his big brown eyes. Louis was hot with his messy brown feathery hair. And Niall was cute with his blue eyes and innocent face. Harry felt himself slowly being drawn to the lads.

Once Niall finished eating, he went and hid in his tent. Harry quickly followed, saying he was tired. “Zayn you can sleep in my tent tonight” Liam said.

“Where are you going to sleep” Louis asked, concern on his face.

“Watch this” Liam said, tapping the ground with his foot. From the ground shot two pieces of Earth that hooked together, making a shape of a tent. “I think I’m good”.

“Doesn’t look very comfy in there” Louis remarked seeing the inside was all dirt and rocks. “Let me help”. Louis raised his hand and grew grass in Liam’s tent. The grass was soft just like a sleeping bag.

“Thanks” Liam complemented.

“It was no problem. Well good night”

“Thank you Liam. It is really nice of you to give up your tent” Zayn remarked.

“It’s my fault your tent got destroyed in the first place and all your other stuff. The least I can do is make it up to you”

“Well I can say you certainly have”

“Go to bed Zayn we have a busy day tomorrow”

“Yea you’re right. Goodnight Liam”


	12. Sleep With One Eye Open

A scream erupted in the cool night air from a tent breaking the silence of the night. Liam shot up when the next yell was cut off. We're being attacked the boy thought crawling out of his rock made tent.

Liam was greeted by darkness and complete and utter silence. All he heard was faint snoring and the sounds of the forest. Crickets chirped and birds hooted in the dead of night leaving Liam with a horrible feeling. He stood there letting the earth be his eyes. Hitting his foot on the ground it showed him four unfamiliar figures and Liam got ready to attack. Crunching low he raised his foot getting ready to impale them with the Earth.

"Scream again and I will slit your throat” a voice threatened. Liam realized the intruders had one of the boy's as hostage. He tried to sense who it was but he couldn't. Slowly Liam put down his foot not wanting to risk hurting one of the lads. Struggling came from the hostage, as he heard grunts and muffled yells. Liam heard a smack and the struggling stopped. A limp body hit the ground and Liam knew the people had knocked out one of the lads or at least he hoped. Liam did not want to picture finding one of the four dead. Anger seethed through Liam as he imagined one of the boys getting hurt. No one hurt any of the lads, not while Liam was alive and fighting.

Liam sent a wave of earth towards the boys' tents hoping it would wake them up. He made sure not to let the intruders know making the ripple of earth go around them. The plan was for the boys to wake up silently because they would realize something was wrong in the camp. What Liam forgot though is the lads are not the brightest. Liam feared the intruders would hurt the hostage more if they heard the boys waking up. He crossed his fingers hoping the boys would be quiet. The trick worked, but not how Liam intended.

"Liam you are dead" Zayn yelled unzipping the tent. "You better have a good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night". Liam hit his head muttering “Idiots”. Why could they not sense something was wrong? Did the lads really think he would wake them up in the middle of the night for no good reason? Looks like the plan of silently attacking would need to change Liam thought. First things first the lads needed light to know who exactly they were up against and which boy they had knocked out.

"Zayn we need fire now. Quickly light up your arms" Liam yelled, getting ready to fight by crouching down. He heard two more tents unzipping and knew the intruders messed with the wrong people. Now it was four against four, the odds favoring the boys. Smirking Liam knew the fight would not take long.

Light filled the campsite as Zayn made his arms go on fire. Liam saw a very confused Louis and Harry looking at the four mystery men. The men were holding an unconscious Niall and Liam felt his blood boil. "Let him go now" Liam threatened taking a step to the men. It took Harry a second to understand what was happening because he was still half asleep. Seeing Niall hurt though woke the boy up and he growled seeing the four men.

"One more step and we will him" the man responded, holding a knife to the blonde's throat.

"That boy is on fire" another reported staring in awe at Zayn. The other men looked at Zayn. “What a freak” one commented. There was no way the intruders could live now that they knew the lads had powers. Liam could not risk the news of them spreading around the country. What if the Fearsome Five found? Harry must have read Liam’s mind because he saw the curly haired boy get ready to attack. Without hesitation, Harry burst into action, sending a gust of wind and blowing over two of the men.

The men hit the ground roughly on their backs screeching when they hit rocks. This prompted the man holding Niall to bring the knife down on the blonde’s throat because he was freaked out. They had not accepted the boys to have powers. They expected helpless teenagers who would not put up a fight. Before the weapon touched the blonde, though a vine grabbed the man's hand twisting it back. Screaming in pain the man dropped the knife to the ground and released Niall. The plant broke the man’s arm before it finally released him. He fell to the ground rocking back and forth holding his arm which now had the bone coming out of it. “You bastards” he screamed looking at the lads.

"Can we kill them? Please?" Harry begged, giving his best puppy dog eyes to Liam and Louis.

Liam looked to Louis needing his approval and saw the boy nod his head. Seeing Louis say yes, Liam responded "Be my guest". Harry smirked evilly and turned to face the intruders. The two Harry knocked over tried to crawl away and Harry allowed them. He was taunting his next kill. Zayn walked next to Harry, who was becoming unrecognizable. His eyes glazed over making Harry look like an animal.

Zayn decided to leave Harry and give the campsite light. He lit up the campfire and other patches of sticks shedding light across the area. Now the boys could all see each other and the men they were fighting. Well Zayn wouldn’t call it a fight because the intruders didn’t stand a chance. He made his way back over to Harry making sure the boy didn’t get overtaken fighting two men at once. 

Louis ran to the blonde, who lay sprawled out on the ground. He saw the man with the broken arm crawling towards Niall, so he threw the man against a tree using a vine. Grabbing Niall, Louis inspected him making sure the blonde was not horribly injured. Once he was satisfied Louis laid the blonde on his lap keeping the boy safe. "You're safe" Louis whispered, rubbing the boy's back.

Zayn watched as Harry bended the air out of two men. An air bubble surrounded them which kept all the oxygen out. As they suffocated Harry laughed, smiling like a mad man. Their eyes went bloodshot as they tried getting air. The men coughed their voices beginning to crack. They tried to plead with Harry but the boy wasn’t listening. Harry was like a hunter watching his prey die. The more they struggled the more Harry seemed to enjoy killing them. Harry chuckled watching the men suffer. Clutching their throats, the two men fell to the ground dead. The faces were blue from lack of oxygen and their eyes were still open giving off a sad expression of helplessness. Zayn was glad Harry was on their side, because that boy was terrifying. "No one messes with Niall" Harry spat kicking the dead bodies.

Liam corned another man not really wanting to kill him. “You’re a fucking freak” he insulted throwing a rock at Liam. “You are murders. You are just as bad as the Fearsome Five”. The insults and rock throwing were not helping the man’s case. Instead he just made Liam pissed and any chances of surviving went out the window.

Lifting up two large rocks Liam slowly began to crush the man. The sound of the bones crushing sent chills down the boy's spine. Blood squirted out, as the man screamed in pain. What was once a healthy looking man was snow a mangled mess of blood and bones. "Please stop" he pleaded tears streaming down his face as his bones crept out of his skin. No matter how much he begged Liam could not let him live. If he did live the mission would be over. The Fearsome Five would know about them. He brought the rocks together and saw an expulsion of red and organs. All he saw was red and mush. Brain matter and the sticky red warm blood splattered against the boy’s face. Liam threw up his dinner and turned away from the man trying to wipe the mess from his face.

Louis was still on the ground holding Niall. His back was turned to the fighting, because he hated seeing people get hurt. The sounds were enough for Louis to gag. He didn’t want to know why he heard cracking sounds and screaming. Louis tried his best to ignore the bloodshed that was happening around him. The lads seemed to forget there was a fourth man hiding out in the woods. After watching is friends get murdered, he decided it was time to get some revenge. When the three lads were distracted by killing his friends, he got ready to attack. Running out of the woods, the man came charging at Louis with a knife screaming. Louis's eyes grew big as he saw the blood thirsty man and he shielded the blonde with his body. The weapon though, never had the chance to touch Louis because the man wielding the knife was hit with a fire blast courtesy of Zayn.

The man fell to the ground clutching his burned hand, crying. His hand was black and charred. A strange numb feeling went through the hand and it no longer moved. "You bastard" he screamed. Zayn was fuming, as he stood threatenly over the intruder.

"Any last words" Zayn mocked as the flames on his hands grew bigger. Liam could feel the heat from the flames 10 feet away from Zayn/

"You won't make it out of the city alive. I have a whole army and they won't be happy to find me dead. You are all dead. You better pray we kill you and that cute little blonde. We would have had fun with him. You don’t see many innocent faces like his anymore" the man said, licking his lips. Zayn looked at the man with disgust. Bringing down his hands, Zayn released a wave of fire on the man.

The intruder only screamed for a second before he burned alive. Flames went into his mouth burning his throat cutting off his shrieks. His eyes and teeth melted down his face as he burned. The pale and once pasty skin was now unrecognizable being black and charred. He would forever be frozen on the ground clutching his hand, his mouth still open from screaming.

Zayn made the fire go out on his hands and was suddenly filled with guilt. The boy had been so caught up in the moment he turned off his conscience. He had just killed a person with the element he refused to hurt anyone with. He thought of how disappointed his parents would be in him. Looking over at Louis, he saw the boy on the verge of tears. Louis was visibly shaking having seen the man get burned alive. "I'm sorry Louis" Zayn apologized stepping away from the boy.

"It's fine. You saved me Zayn and I shall never be able to repay you. I just wish it wasn't so brutal" Louis confessed, looking down at Niall. "I feel I can never be as brave as you guys. I can't even kill a fucking animal without crying. How am I supposed to help you once we face the Fearsome Five?" Louis sobbed.

"This wasn't right Louis we shouldn't have to kill people. They might have deserved it, but it still doesn’t make it right.” Liam said trying to console Louis. Turning to Zayn who was still feeling guilty he said “Zayn don't feel bad, you saved Louis and Niall.”

“Louis if you want I will help you become stronger” Liam offered, putting his hand on Louis's. "Thank you for helping Harry" he added knowing the boy lent a big hand in defeating the intruders.

"No problem. I won't let anything happen to Niall" Harry declared, looking intently at the blonde. "Hey Louis don't feel bad I wish I still had the innocent mindset as you. You don't want to be like me. I scare myself sometimes."

"Maybe we can help each other" Louis suggested, holding out his hand signaling for Harry to come over. "I am so glad I met you guys” Louis confessed. “I hope we can be friends".

"I thought we already were" Harry said smiling. Louis felt like he could cry as Liam and Zayn agreed with Harry. Louis’s wish was finally coming true. He was going to have friends.

"How is Niall" Liam asked, seeing the blonde hadn't woken up yet.

"He will be fine" Louis reported. "His wound his already starting to heal" he said, pulling back the boy's hair to show Liam.

Zayn and Harry sighed in relief sitting down next to Niall. "I wonder what happened" Zayn speculated, wondering how the men caught the blonde.

"Should we go back to sleep?" Liam asked interrupting Zayn from his thoughts.

"I don't want to be alone" Harry confessed.

"Why don't we all just sleep here" Louis suggested making soft grass grow around them. Liam nodded his head and raised a protective shield of earth around them. "I will take first watch" Liam said, leaning against the earth, which had taken a shape of a dome. Little holes littered the dome so air could come in and out.

"I'll do second watch" Zayn declared, lying down on the soft grass. Louis laid down the blonde and cuddled up against him. Harry claimed the other side of Niall and laid against him. Liam chuckled at the sight and soon he heard snores coming from each of the lads.

Tonight was a close call. They could have lost Niall. Liam couldn't believe he hadn't set up nightly watches. He wanted to slap himself for being so stupid. He imagined how disappointed his mentor Roberts would be in him.

Just when Liam was about to wake up Zayn, Niall shot up panic in his eyes. His blue eyes darted around looking for the four men who tried to kidnap him. "Niall you are okay. Don't freak out" Liam whispered trying to calm down the blonde.

Niall breathed heavily seeing Harry and Louis snuggled up with him. He wanted to push them off, but they looked so peaceful that Niall decided to suck it up. The last thing he remembered was getting attacked and losing all hope of getting rescued. He assumed the lads would leave him behind just like his father. Niall began to wonder what happened. "Just go back to sleep, we will talk in the morning" Liam said, seeming to have read the blonde's mind.

The blonde laid back down ignoring the two boys asleep on him and closed his eyes. Soon Niall was asleep along with the other lads. Liam smiled, knowing Niall was okay. He bet the cut on his head was fully healed and the blonde was as good as new. Liam decided to let Zayn sleep the rest of the night. The boy looked so serene and content and Liam didn't want to ruin it. It was only a couple of hours till morning, Liam could deal staying up all night. Back with Roberts he learned how to survive with only an hour of sleep. Besides he needed the time to rethink the event that happened only a couple of hours ago. He needed to make sure that it never happened again. Daily training was going to start when they were done the mission. Right now Liam’s main concern was the threat the man said before he died about others. The boy did not want a whole army of people just like the intruders to catch up to the lads. They needed to get in and out of the city quickly and stealth fully. One wrong move and everything could go to shit. 

Sunlight seeped into the makeshift tent and Liam knew it was time to move out before the intruders' friends came looking for them. “Lads it is time to get up” Liam yelled, bringing down the earth, allowing the sunlight to wake up the boys. The sunlight did more than that though. The sudden change in light blinded the lads and woke them up.

Harry shrieked and rolled around on the ground. Louis used vines to cover his eyes from the blinding light, while Zayn remained sleeping face down hiding from the sun. Zayn hissed when Liam rolled him over. Niall groaned, sitting up, rubbing his eyes. All eyes turned to the blonde, who was now yawning. Harry tackled the boy in a hug and said “Don’t ever do that again”.

“Do what?” Niall asked, clearly confused.

“Almost get kidnapped. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you” Harry confessed still hugging the blonde. He tightened his grip on Niall like his life depended on it.

“What happened last night?” Niall questioned. “What happened to the men?” The blonde was answered by a deafening silence. Each boy kinda looked ashamed of themselves, except for Harry, who was still beaming with happiness.

“We killed them” Harry reported looking at Niall for approval. The blonde gave a forced smile to Harry, even though his stomach was doing somersaults. Did the lads were straight up murder four people? Niall thought he was going to be sick. “Why” he asked afraid to know the answer.

“Because silly, they threatened to kill you. And I won’t let anyone hurt you” Harry replied. “If anyone tries to lay a hand on you, I will rip their fucking heads off”.

“And they saw we had powers” Liam added staring in shock at the outburst from Harry. Sometimes Liam didn’t understand the curly haired boy and this was one of those times. “How did they get you last night?” Liam asked changing the subject he didn’t want Harry talking anymore about murder.

“I’m not sure actually” Niall confessed. “I woke up to my tent unzipping and I thought it was one of you lads. I was getting ready to kick you out, but a hand covered my mouth and that was when I knew it wasn’t you guys. They picked me up and carried me out of the tent. I screamed which made them angry, but I had to warn you guys. So I yelled again, but then they covered my mouth. I struggled and then they knocked me out. I never really imagined you guys actually saving me, so thank you”.

“Of course we would save you Niall. You are our friend” Louis declared, wrapping his arm around the blonde’s shoulder.

“You should have seen everyone last night” Harry exclaimed. “Zayn made his arms go on fire and shot the intruders”. Harry then, proceed to reenact the battle with Zayn using fire using hilarious sound effects that had Niall a giggling mess. Seeing the blonde giggle Harry went on wanting to make Niall full blown laugh. When Harry started to pretend to be Liam, Niall lost it and full on laughed which surprised all the boys. He even surprised himself. The blonde hadn’t heard his laugh in years, probably since his mom died. The other boys smiled hearing the blonde laugh. Louis swore it was the most adorable thing he had ever heard. Zayn fell in love with the boy’s laugh. Harry giggled alongside Niall, finding his laugh contagious. 

The blonde didn’t want to laugh or have fun. In his mind he didn’t deserve happiness. Niall quickly stopped laughing by biting down on his lip hard, drawing blood. The four boys watched Niall sadly. The blonde’s lip healed in a matter of seconds, leaving the lads to wonder why he stopped himself from laughing. “Why did you do that” Liam asked dejectedly, because he was really enjoying the blonde’s laugh. This was the first time all the lads had shared a good moment together. A normal moment where everyone had actually smiled and let go of their worries and the past. Now everyone was back to their gloomy old selves.

“I don’t know” Niall shrugged, not really wanting to talk about his past. Louis sighed sadly, praying the blonde would just open up and allow the boys in.

“Well let’s head out, we don’t want anymore people like last night to find us” Liam ordered. The lads all packed up their supplies in record time without any bickering.

The journey down the deserted highway was boring as hell. Harry kinda wished some more people would attack, at least that would cure his boredom. Staring at trees can only be entertaining for so long. “Harry I swear if I hear you sigh one more time I will make vines cover your mouth” Louis sassed, making Harry smile. Zayn stayed close to Niall never letting the blonde out of his sight.

Niall took notice to Zayn constantly staying three feet behind him. Walking Niall tripped over a crack in the road and almost face planted into the ground. Lucky for him Zayn grabbed Niall’s arm and pulled him against his chest. Niall pushed away from Zayn not liking being touched. The blonde walked away from Zayn. 

“Zayn you don’t have to protect me” Niall said, catching Zayn staring at him. “I am the worst person to protect. Don’t waste your time on me”.

“Okay I am done with this” Zayn declared, grabbing Niall’s hands, making the blonde stop walking.

“Done with what”

“Hearing you put yourself down”

Niall shrugged, clearly uncomfortable where the conversation was going. The other three boys stopped walking and stood watching the blonde began to cry. Zayn knew Niall would never talk on his own about that past. He needed a push. Zayn decided to be the push because he couldn’t take depressed Niall who hated himself. If getting Niall to talk meant talking about his past then so be it. This was it Zayn thought. “Niall your life is not as bad as mine”.

Taking a deep breath Zayn continued “My parents and I used to live in a small cabin in the woods. We were happy and safe, but then one day I fucked it up. I lost control of my powers for a split second and set our home on fire. Lucky for us, we escaped and were accepted into a new community. I loved it there. We made a good life there. I had friends and things were beginning to look up. But good things can’t last forever”.

 

Zayn wiped away a tear, feeling slightly relieved getting this off his chest. “One day I got mad over something so stupid. I can’t even remember what is was. Isn’t it sad I can’t even remember what made me lose control? I burned down the whole community over something stupid, something I can’t even remember. I killed so many innocent people and it is all my fault”. Zayn fell to the ground sobbing, being flooded with the memories of the fire, of finding his parents dead.

Louis pulled Zayn into a hug feeling proud the boy finally let down his wall. Harry joined the hug not wanting to be left out. “That was very brave of you Zayn” Louis remarked praising the boy.

“But last night I murdered someone else using my powers. Am I a monster?” Zayn asked, afraid to know the answer.

“No. You are a kind person. That man was going to hurt Niall. You saved me and Niall, just remember that” Louis said, trying to comfort the crying boy. It seemed to do the trick because Zayn’s cries had settled down substantially. Zayn felt better surprisingly. He felt less tension and less pain in his heart. Maybe talking about the past actually helped him in getting over it. 

Niall looked like he was ready to speak. He had his mouth open when he was suddenly cut off by Liam shouting “We need to get out of here now. I sense a group of people a couple of miles away at last night’s campsite”.

And just like that the blonde closed his mouth, shutting his walls once again. No, Louis thought, we were so close. With a sad sigh, Louis helped Zayn up and they quickly set out again, not wanting the friends of the dead men catching up with them. Harry was practically hanging off of Zayn. What Zayn had said definitely affected Harry in a positive way. He looked like he was ready to talk, to open up about his past.

The forest became less and less dense as the lads got closer to the city. The trees finally disappeared and the city came into view.

“What the hell” Liam yelled panic filling his voice.


	13. Entering the City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. Let's just say the last couple of weeks have been crazy. I was sick, had tons of homework, and went to comic con. So yea. Here is the next chapter. Thanks for reading

Liam stopped in the middle of the road and stared at the scene in front of him. He heard Louis throw up next to him, but Liam didn’t care. All he could see were dead bodies hanging everywhere. Some hung from highway signs, others littered the ground. The stench was strong and horrible, making Liam cover his nose and mouth. His eyes began to water from the smell.

The bodies had started to decompose. The warm sun beating down on them also did not help with the smell. Maggots and flies feasted on the dead people. Niall watched maggots tear away at a lady’s eyeball. “Who do you think do this” Louis croaked, after he finished throwing up.

“Not sure, but whoever did are monsters” Harry responded. “I might be crazy, but I would never do anything this bad”.

“We shouldn’t stay here long. What if whoever did this comes back” Zayn asked, panic filling his voice.

“If they come back, I will kill them all” Harry threatened his voice becoming dark and menacing. “I will make them pay”.

Liam wasn’t sure what to do. Should they still carry out with the plan? “Let’s just grab the supplies and get out” Liam suggested. None of the boys argued so Liam began to walk towards the city. He stepped over a dead child and stopped. He stared into her lifeless eyes and cried. The teddy bear was still clutched in her arms, making Liam want to kill whoever did this. If Liam had to estimate he swore there were over 300 bodies. He hated feeling completely helpless. Liam was supposed to be a hero. Why didn’t he save these people?

Niall looked around taking in the scene. He noticed some people were maimed, while others were nailed to telephone poles.

“I think this is a burial ground or a place where people are punished hence the people nailed to the telephone poles” Harry offered. Silence filled the air as the lads took in what Harry said. Zayn wrapped his hand protectively around Louis because Louis was a mess. Everytime he saw a body he gagged. Tears were streaming down his face, as he tried to walk around the dead bodies.

“Don’t look” Zayn whispered. “Just close your eyes, I will tell you when it is over.” Zayn picked up Louis bridal style and began walking around the bodies. Louis closed his eyes and said “Thank you”. Zayn smiled warmly at Louis and continued on his journey.

A movement to the left caught Niall’s attention. He could have sworn one of the bodies nailed to the pole moved. Staring intently at the woman, Niall saw her arm move again. Without a second of hesitation, the blonde took off running toward the woman. “Niall what are you doing” Liam screamed.

Harry and Liam took off running after Niall. “Stop” Harry yelled. Niall though, continued forward and reached the woman.

She opened up her eyes and stared sadly at Niall. Dried blood covered her arms and legs from where the nails were. She was in constant pain as she cringed when her arms moved. The woman was sunburned and her lips were cracking. Her eyes gave a glazed look and Niall knew she was going to die. “Get out of here” she croaked at Niall.

“I can help you” Niall responded. “Liam give me your water”. Liam and Harry finally caught up and saw the woman. They stared at her with pity. Liam took out his water and gave it to Niall.

The woman shook her head no. “Please you need to leave before they find you.”

“What happened to you” Harry asked

“I was hidden up in one of the skyscrapers with my family when they found us. They butchered my wife and daughter right in front of me. Just let me die. Get out of here before they come for you” she responded.

“Who is they” Harry asked, crouching down next to the woman. Just as she was about to answer the woman started to choke. She began to spit up her own blood.

“Help her” Niall cried.

“There is nothing we can do. She is too far gone” Liam responded.

“But I can heal her”

“Niall don’t waste it on somebody who wants to die. Besides are you even sure you can heal injuries like that”.

Niall shrugged and began to sob when he heard the woman stop breathing. He felt like a failure. The boy could never save anyone, not even his own mother and brother. “Should we call off the mission” Harry asked, still staring at the lifeless woman.

“I don’t know, but if we go back the way we came we will be greeted by our attacker’s friends. I think we should hide out in the city for a couple days and let this all die down” Liam suggested. Waving at Zayn and Louis, Liam said “Follow me”.

Zayn nodded his head and carried Louis over to the three boys. Together the group squeezed through the graveyard, cringing each time someone stepped on a body. The sounds of bones crushing sent shivers up Louis’s spine. After a while Harry made himself float to avoid stepping on the bodies. He only hovered a couple feet in the air, because he wanted to stay near the boys.

The city itself was a wasteland. Many of the large buildings lay collapsed on the ground, leaving shards of glass everywhere. The buildings that still stood had vines crawling up it. There was no life in the city except for the vines. It was dead silent. Once the boys were far enough from the bodies, Zayn put Louis down.

“This place seems dead” Zayn remarked.

“Yea I wonder what happened to everyone” Liam questioned.

“Liam did you forget about the graveyard” Harry reply. “That is where everyone went” Harry said, pointing at the dead bodies.

“Let’s just find a place to camp out in tonight” Liam ordered not appreciating Harry’s sarcasm. Dust covered each building the lads passed. This place was really freaking Louis out.

Going into the center of the city, Liam decided to claim an apartment complex as their sleeping ground for the night. The five boys climbed to the top of the building and set up camp. “No campfire tonight” Liam said.

“Aww why not” Harry whined. He did not want to eat raw food that was disgusting.

“Fire will attract unwanted guests” Liam responded. “Tonight we shall eat the fruit we packed.” And with that the lads enjoyed a small meal of berries. None of them were truly satisfied with the meal but they did not feel like complaining.

Liam kept offering to do first watch, but Zayn was hearing none of that. “Last time you had first watch you stayed up the whole night. I will have first watch” Zayn said.

“And I’ll do second” Harry added, staring aimlessly out the window.

“What’s wrong Harry” Niall asked, seeing something was bugging the boy.

Harry shrugged, “Nothing really, this place just reminds me of my old home, of what I used to be”.

“What was that” Louis questioned.

“A murderer”. Silence filled the room as the four boys soaked in what Harry said. “Looks like I can’t keep my past hidden for long.” Harry sighed looking at the lads. “Where do I start”?

“Where ever you want” Louis said, squeezing Harry’s shoulder.

“I used to have a mom and dad or so I was told. One day they just abandoned me on the side of the street and that was where Gemma found me. Gemma became my new mom. She used to hate it when I asked her about the day she found me. I think I always knew she was lying. She probably killed my parents and raised me because she felt guilty. But it did not matter because I loved Gemma.

‘She was in charge of a group of scavengers in London. The town became destroyed and barren like this one. When she wanted to show a message or claim an area as her own Gemma would make a graveyard much like the one we saw. I became her right hand man, her secret weapon. Gemma trained me to kill and show no mercy. I helped her kill rival gangs and innocent people just passing through.

‘I thought I was making Gemma proud by doing this. I had a family with Gemma, a group I loved. When the day came they needed true protection I was worthless. Simon killed Gemma and my friends’ right in front of me. I tried to save her, but I couldn’t. Simon took me in once he saw my abilities. He knew he couldn’t train me because I had tried to kill him several times. Simon though, is unkillable. So I was sent to train with Ryan.

‘Ryan was the nicest man, always tried to make me happy, but I was an ass. If I could go back, I would tell Ryan how much he meant to me, how I loved him like a father. Ryan always tried to help me make friends and just to spite him I killed one. I murdered an innocent soldier named Evan. I am still haunted by him and all the other people I killed. I might seem crazy and be a killer, but I regret it. I regret pushing people away because family is all people got. Family is the only thing worth fighting for. I had to find something worth fighting for and that is you lads. You guys are my family and as long as I am alive, I will protect you and show you my worth. Maybe one day I would be able to redeem myself to you and myself.”

Harry wiped away fallen tears, feeling a great weight leave his chest. “Harry you have already redeemed yourself” Louis said, pulling the boy in for a hug. Next thing Harry knew the hug became a group one as each of the boys joined in.

Harry sobbed as he realized he would never be alone again. These boys were his family and Harry would protect them from anything. “Shhh Harry” Niall cooed, stroking the boy’s curl. Niall and Harry slid to the floor and Harry leaned against the blonde.

“Sleep Harry. I will take second watch” Louis ordered. He was very proud of Harry. Louis never imagined the boy opening up like that. Louis just guessed Harry would be a psychopath, his whole life. Now that he knew the boy’s backstory Louis looked at Harry differently.

Harry nodded his head and fell asleep against Niall. Soon both boys were asleep and Liam, Zayn, and Louis couldn’t help but stare. “Niall is really starting to open up” Liam observed.

“Yea maybe he will finally open up” Louis speculated. He was most curious to hear about the blonde’s past.

“They really are adorable” Zayn noted, not realizing he spoke out loud. He blushed when he saw Liam and Louis smirk at him. “Shut up” Zayn grumbled. “Anyway get to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow”.

The two boys laid down next to Niall. “Don’t forget to wake me up” Louis said to Zayn.

“Don’t worry I won’t. I am not like Liam, I like sleep.”

Louis chuckled to himself as he closed his eyes. The constant breathing coming from Niall and Harry soon made Liam and Louis fall asleep.

Zayn’s watch was quiet and peaceful. A couple times he almost dozed off. If he hadn’t seen the bodies on the way here, Zayn could have swore this place was safe. After 4 hours, Zayn shuffled toward Louis to wake him up.

Zayn squeezed Louis’s nose shut and watched the boy open his mouth to breath. His eyes struggled open and he glared at Zayn. “It has been like 5 minutes. Give me another hour” Louis complained yawning.

“No it has been 4 hours and I am tired. Get your ass out of bed and watch the window”

“Fine”

Zayn crawled next to Liam and put his head on Liam’s chest. Liam made a comfy pillow. Louis watched jealously. He really wanted to just lay back down and go back to sleep and cuddle up against Liam.

Closing his eyes, Louis began to nod off, that was until he heard screaming from outside the building. Becoming fully awake, Louis looked out the window and saw a man and a woman run inside. Shit, Louis thought, they are in our building. Louis debated on whether or not he should wake up the others.

Being stuck in a lifeless city meant Louis couldn’t summon plants without a lot of energy, energy that Louis did not have at the moment. He also knew he couldn’t draw attention to himself. Controlling the plants on the buildings would definitely cause unwanted attention. He could attempt to make animals, but it usually backfired. Louis would lose control of the animal or it would disappear. All Louis knew was it completely drained him when he forged animals out of thin air. The boy decided to morph into an animal instead.

He choose the scariest creature he knew and turned into a bobcat. See in order for Louis to be able to turn into an animal he needed to see a picture of them. Turning into an animal took time and practice. But he now knew how to control it. Before Louis could be stuck as an animal for days on end. The base Louis stayed at had a limited collection of animal pictures so Louis could only turn into about 15 animals.

Louis stood at the door ready to pounce on the intruders. He heard the floor creaking and knew they were getting closer. The door flung open and Louis jumped up landing on the woman’s chest. She released a scream, as she smacked the round. The bobcat growled sticking up its fur threatening. Louis thought he looked pretty intimidating.

Instead of being scared, though the woman started to crack up, cooing at how cute the cat was. Louis blushed, but lucky for him the fur covered his red cheeks. The man pushed Louis off the woman and helped her up. “Isn’t it cute” the woman whispered, pointing at the bobcat. The man nodded.

“I’m sorry if I am interrupting something, but get the fuck out” Liam yelled standing in the doorway. All the noise and commotion had woke him up. Lucky for Liam, he was a light sleeper. “This is our building.”

“Oh god please don’t hurt us. We were just looking for a place to hide for the night. Please don’t kick us out” the man begged. 

Liam took a step back and considered their options. The couple did look pretty scared of going back outside. They had cuts and scrapes all over them and they were skinny from lack of food. The man and woman had not seen their powers, so Liam didn’t see why they couldn’t stay in the same building as them.

“Where’s Louis” Liam heard Niall ask. Liam quickly turned around and saw the boy was gone. His heart raced as he imagined all the horrible things that could have happened to the boy. Just as he was about to as the couple about Louis a bobcat jumped up on Liam.

Just as he was about to push it off, Liam recognized Louis’s eyes. “I found him” Liam yelled. He pulled Louis close and whispered “Don’t turn back. We need to keep our powers a secret.” Louis meowed which Liam assumed was a yes.

“Let me ask the others if its okay if you stay with us” Liam said, backing into the room.

“We can stay on a different floor” the man offered.

“No I need you up here, so I can keep an eye on you. Just in case you betray us and tell people our location.”

“Okay fine whatever” the man responded, holding the woman close.

Liam shut the door and saw Niall was in a panic. “Niall what’s wrong”

“Where is Louis” the blonde croaked.

“Right here” Liam responded, pointing at the cat. “I think he morphed and tried to fight the intruders, but it went wrong. He needs to stay like that until the couple leaves tomorrow, so pretend we own him or something. Louis we will discuss this in the morning. We have guests so please be on your best behavior. We are going to find out everything we can from them about the city.”

The lads nodded their heads and Liam let the couple come inside. “Thank you so much sir” the woman said. “Here kitty kitty” she cooed trying to get Louis to come over. Louis hissed and sat on Harry’s lap.

“He doesn’t like that” Harry sassed, scratching Louis’s ears. Niall pet Louis’s stomach, making him purr. Niall giggled quietly and continued to pet the bobcat.

Zayn stared at the couple, watching their every move. He didn’t trust them. “So I have some questions for you” Liam said, breaking the silence”. He signaled for the people to sit down and they did. The man nodded his head, indicating for Liam to ask away.

“What happened to the city?”

“Where do I begin” the man said “At first the city was left undisturbed during the attacks. We all formed our own community and closed ourselves off from the outside world. Then the Fearsome Five got whiff of us. What we didn’t expect, though was that they have their own army. People they have recruited over the years. So they sent a little army to take over our town. It happened overnight. They murdered everyone they saw. Bodies littered the streets, but then they left and we rebuilt. The Fearsome Five left us alone for years. We didn’t know they would come back, but they did. They punished those who stayed behind, letting them rot in the streets and tying them up to the telephone poles. My wife and I have been trying to escape. We were traveling with a big group, but as you can see we are the only ones left. Please you have to help us”.

“You are telling me the Fearsome Five have human armies” Zayn asked his voice shaking.

“Yes” the woman responded.

“Shit” Harry mumbled, making Louis jump.

“Did you not know” the man questioned. Liam nodded his head no. “Well the army is pretty big. Every bad person works for them. The Fearsome Five stopped by all the jails during the invasion and took all those people in. They have been recruiting over the years.”

“Well thank you for this information. It has been most helpful. We will help you get out of the city” Liam said. He needed time to digest all the information he was given. “Go to sleep I will finish out the watch” Liam ordered.

“Thank you so much” the woman cried.

“Liam what are we going to do” Niall whispered.

“I don’t know” he yelled. “Stop looking at me for all the answers. Now go to bed. I need time to think”. Liam grimaced, when he yelled at Niall. The blonde looked like a hurt puppy, but it was too late to take it back.

Liam felt like he could cry. Their battle for Earth was getting more and more hopeless. The lads needed to tell Simon what they had learned. Liam hoped Simon would have the answers or at least know what to do. “Everything is going to be alright”, Liam muttered to himself. The more times he said it, the less he believed it. Nothing was alright. More people were going to have to die. People, who the lads and Liam were supposed to save and protect.

Liam heard movement outside and saw the building they were staying in begin to get surrounded. “Shit they know we are here” Liam mumbled, pushing himself up. He needed to get the others out of here fast. Just as he was about to say something, he heard an explosion downstairs and footsteps running up the stairs. “We are so fucked”.


	14. The Separation

“Get up” Liam screamed, throwing stuff in his backpack. He saw the lads and the couple open their eyes. “They found us, we need to get out now”. Realization seemed to hit everyone, when they heard the front door on the first floor explode.

This seemed to wake everyone up. The couple clutched each other in fear. “We might need to split up outside. Our meet up is the old campsite. No powers. We can’t let these people know we have abilities” Liam ordered. “I will go out first and lead them away. Louis follow me now”.

Louis who was still in bobcat form, ran after Liam who was already halfway down the stairs. All the other boys were panicking, trying to throw as much supplies as they could in their bags. “Louis I need you to turn into a bird and keep an eye on things in the air. Can you do that?” Louis nodded his head yes, and became a hawk the only bird he knew how to transform into. “Good. Watch over everyone. You will be the eyes in the sky. If anyone is in trouble come find me. If not then, I will meet you at the campground”.

And with that, Liam jumped out of the window to the second floor and took off running when his feet touched the ground. Louis watched many of the men turn and begin to chase the boy. Flying out of the window, Louis took to the sky to watch over Liam.

He saw the others begin to jump out the other side of the building. They were soon quickly surrounded in an alleyway that went in two different directions. Niall and Harry ran down one way, while Zayn and the couple went down the other one. Louis was soon going to lose sight of all the lads.

“Run Niall” Harry yelled, as the soldiers closed in behind them. If they used their powers the element of surprise would be over. The Fearsome Five would know about the plan and the lads. Niall was not used to being this physically active. He wasn’t going to make it to the woods. With his last ounce of energy, Niall took off down a different street and lead half of his chasers away from Harry. “What the hell are you doing” Harry cried, watching the blonde go in the opposite direction.

“Keep going. I will meet you at the site later” Niall replied, before disappearing from Harry’s sight.

“Shit” Harry muttered. He almost turned to go after Niall, but he knew it would do more harm than good. Harry was half tempted to forge a tornado and grab Niall. Then he would fly them both away. But Harry didn’t and just kept running, cursing himself as he ran. The sound of his pursuers kept Harry strong and adrenaline pumped. Soon Harry took the lead leaving the chasers in the dust. The bad guys had underestimated the boy’s speed. Now that he didn’t need to slow down for Niall, Harry was about a mile ahead of his chasers. In the distance, he could see the tree line.

Instead of going straight into the woods, Harry decided to hide under a car. He would do a lot better in the daytime and he really wanted to lose his pursuers. He also secretly hoped he would see Niall run by. When Harry saw that no one was looking, he quickly slid under a minivan.

Harry held his breath, as he saw feet run by his hiding spot. “Where did he go” one voice asked.

“He went into the woods, quickly we can’t let him escape” another yelled. When the area around Harry quieted down the boy released his breath. His racing heart was beginning to die down.

Meanwhile, Liam was in the middle of not trying to die. Gunshots were heard behind the boy and Liam did not dare to turn around. A windshield exploded next to the lad, forcing him to dart to the middle of the street. More cars exploded from a hail of bullets, as Liam continued forward. A spear landed to the left of the boy, but Liam kept running forward. Liam was only thinking about one thing, surviving.

As he ran he saw the highway up ahead. Liam really hoped the others had gotten out. Suddenly Liam felt a searing pain in his ankle. The boy was afraid to look down, but he felt his eyes starting to wonder. Curiosity got the best of the boy and he saw his ankle was squirting out blood. He must have gotten shot.

The adrenaline from all the running, must have kept Liam from feeling the excruciating pain from his ankle. He knew he needed to find a hiding spot soon before his ankle gave out. As he rounded a corner, Liam saw a sewage lid. Thinking quickly, the boy opened the lid and jumped underground, using his power to put the lid back on top of the hole.

Liam backed into the shadows of the underground tunnel, hearing the sounds of running feet on top him. When the sounds were gone, Liam debated which way to walk. He hit against the Earth to try and find his way out of the city. The ground showed him the path and the boy followed it. He listened for the other lads, praying they were safe. 

The pain in Liam’s ankle became too much, as his adrenaline wore off. Each step he took would fill his whole body in pain. Liam was beginning to see black in his vision. Sitting down, the boy inspected his ankle and saw the bullet was still inside. “Great” he muttered “Just fucking perfect”. Not only did he need to take out the bullet, but he also had to stop the bleeding. “If only Niall was here”.

Down in the sewers was not the cleanest place for Liam to perform the operation. He had no knife to cut open the wound with or anything to stop the bleeding with. Sighing, Liam lifted up two rocks. He molded them with his mind to take on a shape of a knife. With his remaining energy, he made the make shift knife as pointy and sharp as he could. Next he tore off a piece of his shirt, to tie around his injured ankle once the bullet was out.

Taking a deep breath, Liam dug the knife into his ankle and began digging around for the bullet. Tears fell down Liam’s face, as the boy bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming. The taste of blood filled his mouth, as he bit down harder on his tongue. Deeper and deeper the knife went, until it finally found the bullet.

Liam pushed his fingers inside the hole in his ankle, attempting to grab the bullet. The thrashing around of his hand inside the wound, made the pain unbearable. He felt himself begin to lose consciousness. Black was beginning to fill his vision. With one last final push, Liam grabbed the bullet and pulled it out. The boy collapsed on the ground knocked out from the pain. His mouth and ankle bled across the sewage floor.

Louis had lost sight of the lads. In his bird form, he was mentally freaking out, his screams of panic were coming out as bird calls. He never realized how tiring flying was until he actually did it. The constant flapping of his wings was beginning to wear him down.

The boy was beginning to panic. He had let down Liam and the others. They could be dead or dying because of him. Just then out of the corner of his eye Louis saw movement. He turned in the direction and dived down. Seeing it was Zayn, Louis felt his heart beat with happiness.

Zayn was running for his life, pushing the couple ahead of him. The man and woman were out of breath and were slowing down. Up ahead was a cliff and it looked like Zayn was planning on jumping down it. Louis intended on following the boy.

“Hey look up there” a man yelled, pointing to the sky.

“What is that” another voice asked.

“Don’t know and don’t care. All I know is that is my dinner” he replied, aiming his gun towards the bird aka Louis.

Louis was too busy watching Zayn to see the gun pointed at him. The weapon was fired, echoing through the city. Louis’s right wing exploded, feathers and blood going everyone. He screamed in pain, but it came out as a squawk.

Zayn looked up, hearing the shot and saw the bird begin to fall towards the ground. Everything played out in slow motion. Zayn knew it was Louis and felt completely helpless as his friend got shot. Louis tried desperately to flap his wing, but it was no use. He was going fall more than 20 feet behind Zayn. Turning to the couple Zayn ordered, “Go down the cliff and keep running. Don’t look back. And don’t wait for me”.

The man and woman nodded their heads and continued forward, disappearing as they slid down the cliff. Zayn turned around and ran towards Louis. His friend smacked the ground, letting out a low whimper. The bad guys were gaining on Zayn. The boy had to make a choice, grab Louis and probably get caught, or leave his friend to die.

There was no choice, though Zayn was saving Louis and he didn’t care if he died in the process. Louis squawked in protest, as he saw Zayn running towards him. Zayn picked up the bird quite easily, because birds are light. He then took off running down the next street, with an army of men chasing after him. They were now a lot closer to catching Zayn, since the boy turned around to get Louis.

“Why did he pick up a bird” one voice asked.

“I don’t know he must have a thing for animals” another replied.

Zayn spared a glimpse at Louis and saw his friend was doing pretty bad. His wing had a giant hole in the center and Louis’s eyes were beginning to close. “Stay with me Lou” Zayn begged, “I don’t want to lose you”.

Niall separated himself from Harry secretly, hoping he would get caught and die. Every time, though the bad guys got near the blonde he would run faster. Niall had assumed he would let the bad guys get him, instead he was fighting for his life. Niall found out during this chase, he wanted to live. That he still had fight left inside of him. Niall decided right then and there he was going to fight for his life and Earth. He was done being a sad and depressed.

The boy ran around a corner and crashed through the window of the nearest store. He got up quickly, and brushed the glass and dirt off of himself. Looking around, Niall saw he was in a bookstore. Dust covered the books, indicating they hadn’t been touched in years. Hearing footsteps round the corner, Niall quickly got down on the ground and crawled to the back of the store.

When the coast was clear, Niall decided to explore. He found an aisle dedicated to animals. Unzipping his bag, Niall stuffed all the animal books he could inside. He grabbed one about predators and another about Earth's biggest creatures. He knew how happy Louis would be when he would see the books. Before Niall left the store, he took one final book about dinosaurs. How cool would it be if Louis could turn into a freaking dinosaur? Niall imagined riding into battle riding Louis who was a T-Rex. That would be awesome, he thought.

Leaving the bookstore, Niall heard a gunshot echo through the air. Instead of running away from the sound, Niall ran towards it. He needed to make sure the lads were okay. He had a bad feeling in his stomach, that one of the boys had gotten shot. As he rounded a corner to get to the sound, Niall felt a pain in his chest and heard a very strange popping sound.. Looking down, he realized he had run into a knife. He must have been in such a hurry had hadn’t looked where he was going. Niall should have, though because now there was a knife sticking out of his chest. The man, who was holding the weapon, stood there glaring evilly at Niall as he twisted the blade deeper inside the blonde. “Should have watched where you were going kid” the man said, pulling the knife out of Niall.

The boy gasped as blood pooled out of his chest. He needed to get out of there fast, before the wound started to heal. Niall backed away slowly, beginning to feel light headed from the draining of his blood. “You can run kid, but death will catch you” the guy yelled, as Niall ran down the next street, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Niall needed to find the others, to make sure they were alive and still breathing. “Please god let the others be okay” the blonde prayed, to himself.

“Louis stay with me” Zayn pleaded, as he set the bird on the ground. Louis’s eyes were closed and his chest was rising less frequently. “You can’t die. I don’t know what I would do without you”.

Zayn was currently hiding out inside an abandoned warehouse. He was scared shitless and tears were falling down his face. Zayn hoped no one would check the warehouse for them. It looked like Zayn spoke to soon, as the door to the building opened up revealing a single figure. Zayn jumped and grabbed Louis heading to the back of the building. He heard footsteps and knew the attacker was getting closer. Setting Louis down Zayn stood protectively over his fallen friend, ready to pounce on the intruder. Suddenly, the walking stopped and Zayn heard the person fall to the floor.

Zayn crawled to where the attacker was, curious to see why they stopped moving. Getting closer, Zayn noticed there was blood all over the ground. Creeping into the light, the boy saw Niall passed out on the ground, his chest was bleeding profusely. Zayn realized there was never an attacker in the warehouse. “Niall” Zayn shrieked, running over to the lad. “Wake up” the boy begged shaking the blonde.

Niall’s eyes cracked open and he smiled, surprised to see Zayn. “Don’t worry I’ll be fine, I just needed a safe place to heal” Niall reported, before closing his eyes again.

“Wait you can’t sleep. You need to heal Louis. If not, he is going to die” Zayn declared, making Niall sit up. “Do you think you are strong enough to do it?”

“I guess I have to be”. Niall sat up, still a little dizzy. He had asked Zayn to bring Louis to him and the boy gladly obliged. Louis still in bird form was laid down in front of Niall.

“Do you have any water” Niall asked. Zayn shook his head no, his eyes filled with panic and grief. “Looks like it will be the hard way, then” the blonde muttered. Niall lifted up his left arm and held it over his right. He squeezed his left fist together and made upward motions with his hand. From his right arm came a tiny stream of water. Once the water left the arm, the arm became withered up and dry. With his healthy arm Niall placed the water on Louis’s wound and quickly closed it up.

Louis’s chest began to rise and fall at a normal paste. The giant hole in his wing had closed up and was slowly starting to heal. “Niall what is wrong with your hand?” Zayn asked concern filling his voice. The blonde’s body was starting to look very pale. His arm, though looked like it was decaying. It had shrunk and was a nasty brown color. His arm looked like it had been dead for weeks.

“I took my own body fluids to heal Louis” Niall said, before he leaned back and passed out. Niall’s chest stopped moving.

“Niall” Zayn screamed, beginning to beat on the blonde’s chest. The boy was not waking up.


	15. Never Going To Give You Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Becuase I love you guys so much I give you a new chapter. I know how much cliffhangers suck and I am sorry for making the last chapter end with one. So here you go. Hope you enjoy the update.

Louis woke up to the sounds of Zayn sobbing. Looking down, he saw he was still in bird form. Louis closed his eyes and thought about him as a human. He felt a tingling feeling fill his body, as he slowly transformed back to his normal self. Once Louis was back in human form, he inspected his injured arm. Before he blacked out he remembered getting shot. After turning over his arm several times, he found nothing wrong with it. He was slightly confused, but was brought back to reality back hearing Zayn.

Feeling slightly relieved, Louis got up to find Zayn and see what was upsetting him. Louis saw Zayn crying on Niall’s chest. He wondered why until he saw the blonde was not breathing. “What happened? What is wrong with Niall” Louis cried.

Zayn met eyes with Louis before tears started to stream down his face. Louis’s vision became blurry with tears as, he came to the realization that Niall was no longer alive. “Let’s try putting him in water” Louis croaked. He was not about to let Niall die without a fight. Getting up, he scooped up the lifeless body of his friend and ran out of the building.

“Stop” Zayn begged “It is too late”. Zayn grabbed Louis not really wanting to get his hopes up. He just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry his eyes out.

“No” Louis replied, shrugging Zayn off his arm. “I am not about to give up on Niall. When I was in bird form I saw a stream up ahead. We are getting Niall to the water, even if it kills me”.

Louis took off running towards the water, not caring if Zayn was coming or not. “Niall don’t you give up on me” the boy mumbled, finally taking a good look at his fallen friend. Niall’s skin was cold to touch, his body was limp and hung loosely in Louis’s arms. One arm in particular looked horrible. It was dark brown and looked shriveled up and dead. Louis was scared to touch it and wonder how the blonde’s arm got like this.

Arriving at the stream, Louis placed Niall gently in the water. He watched the blonde sink under the water. Louis slowly walked in the stream and stood next to Niall holding the boy up. If he didn’t hold the blonde, then Niall would have floated away, because the current in the stream was strong. Louis stared at Niall and saw no change in the boy. Tears flowed down his face, as Louis came to turns that Niall was dead.

Movement across the stream snapped the boy out of his trance. The boy clutched Niall protectively, he wasn’t going to let anything else happen to him. Louis sighed in relief when Zayn appear, his face red and puffy from crying. “Any changes” Zayn asked. Louis sadly shook his head no.

Zayn fell to the ground crying, smoke rising from the boy. Louis climbed out of the water and wrapped his arms around Zayn. Both boys cried into each other, not caring if they got caught. Nothing in the world mattered anymore. “This is all my fault” Zayn wept.

“No its not Zayn. It was whoever made his arm like that.” Louis declared. “Do you know what happened to his arm”.

Zayn nodded his head, but didn’t want to tell. “Spit it out Zayn. What happened?”

“He used the water in his body to heal you. He drained himself to save you” Zayn admitted, new tears forming in his eyes. Guilt ate away at Louis when the truth came out.

“He killed himself for me” Louis screamed. Vines flew out from the ground, as Louis yelled in anger and sadness. The boy was battling two different emotions and it was making him go crazy. Louis could not control his powers, when he couldn’t even control his emotions. 

The two grieving boys were giving away their location to the enemy. Zayn had smoke rising from his body that could be seen throughout the whole city. Louis’s screams could be heard from a mile away.

“Should I even ask why you are waking up the whole city” a familiar voice asked, Zayn and Louis.

“Niall is dead, that is why” Louis cried.

“Really? Are you serious? Where is he?” the voice responded.

Louis sighed and looked up. He wiped his eyes, so he could have a moment of clarity before his vision got blurry again with tears. He got up and pointed to the water where the blonde lay. “That is where he is. Now please leave us alone” Louis pleaded, tears once again falling down his face.

“Pretty sure he isn’t there” the voice declared, using a sarcastic tone.

“Yes he is” Zayn screamed, fire shooting out from his arms. Zayn pushed the figure to the ground and got ready to hit him with a fire blast. Right before he did, Zayn could have sworn he saw a familiar set of blue eyes looking at him. Putting down his arms, he saw Niall on the ground covering his head. “Niall?” Zayn croaked.

“It’s me” Niall agreed, getting up from the ground. He was quickly pulled into an embrace by Zayn who sobbed into his shoulder. Louis stood off to the side and watched the exchange. “Come here Louis” Niall ordered, holding open his arm for the boy. Louis shook his head no.

Louis saw Niall was all healed up. His once dead arm was now lively looking once again. “I was the reason you died” Louis wept.

“No. You are wrong. It was the guy who shot you faults. And if you think I regret saving you, then you are wrong. I would do it again in a heartbeat” Niall responded, grabbing Louis and hugging him.

“I was so scared I lost you” Louis admitted, his tears staining Niall’s shirt. “I don’t want to imagine life without you. Please don’t ever do anything like that ever again”.

“No promises” Niall sighed. “I will do anything to protect you guys even if that means I die”.

“Don’t say that Niall” Zayn said. “You are so important to us. We don’t ever want to lose you. You might not think your life is worth anything, but to us you mean the world.”

The three boys stood there hugging each other. After a couple moments, Niall broke the embrace. “Sorry to break up the group hug, but we need to move. I think you two idiots might have given away our locations” Niall sassed.

“What makes you say that” Louis shot back, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Maybe it is the army of cars and bad guys running towards us” Niall responded, pointing to the street where an army was running towards them.

“Looks like it is time to go” Zayn agreed. The three boys began running, not really sure where, just away from the villains. Now that they had each other, the three lads knew they could make it through anything. “We need to find the others” Zayn yelled in the midst of their running.

“Agreed” Niall and Louis said at the same time. Car headlights beamed on the running boys, showing their location. They couldn’t slip down an alleyway without being seen. The lads were screwed unless they found a hiding place.

“Down there” Zayn said, pointing at the sewage lid. “When we round the next corner we go down into the sewages.” Niall and Louis nodded their heads and got ready for the plan to go into action. 

As they rounded the corner, Zayn slid to the ground and lifted up the lid. Niall quickly hopped in the hole, followed by Louis. Zayn threw the lid back on top and fell down into the sewage. His feet hit the floor after a couple feet. Water splashed up, when Zayn’s feet touched the ground. “You guys okay” Zayn asked, not really sure where the lads were. It was pitch black down in the sewers.

“Shhh” Louis said, hearing the cars drive over where the boys were hiding. This was it if the boys were found they were dead. After a couple seconds the sounds of cars and soldiers went away. The sounds of silence filled Louis with relief. “Okay we can talk now. Let’s do a roll call to see if everyone is here. I’ll start. Louis”

“Niall”

“Zayn”

“Awesome we are all here” Louis exclaimed. “Zayn why don’t you light one of your arms on fire so we can see down here”.

Light filled the tunnel, casting shadows across the three lads faces. “Which way” Niall asked.

“Doesn’t matter as long as I have you guys with me” Zayn responded, grabbing Niall and Louis’s hand. The lads walked hand in hand down the dark tunnels. Niall decided they should head left. The boy sensed something large in that part of the tunnel.

Louis and Zayn held tightly over Niall. Now that he was back, they weren’t letting the blonde go. The two boys had experienced a couple minutes without Niall and realized they could not survive without him. They would protect the blonde to the grave. Nothing was going to tear them apart again. “I hope the others are alight” Niall admitted.

“Don’t worry they are” Louis reassured.

“How do you know” Niall asked.

“I just do” Louis replied, squeezing the blonde’s hand.

“Don’t worry we will find them just like how we found each other” Zayn declared.


	16. The Sewers

Zayn, Niall, and Louis walked down the underground tunnels, their only source of light was Zayn. It stunk horribly in the sewers, nearly making Louis throw up. Louis put his shirt over his nose to block out the smell. His shirt though was covered in sweat and dirt, so it didn't make much of a difference. The water was a sick slimy, green color and the lads did their best to avoid stepping in it. Louis though of course wasn’t paying attention and stepped into one of the puddles.

He screamed and humped out of the disgusting water. Niall saved the day by bending the water off of Louis. The boy was as good as new after Niall was done with him. The blonde had saved him and Zayn from hearing non stop complaining from Louis. 

Zayn walked a little further in front of the boys. He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. Moving his eyes, the boy saw a small black figure. “What is that?” he shrieked turning his head. Zayn came face to face with a rat. Its red eyes glared straight into Zayn’s. When Zayn saw it was a rat on his shoulder, he began freaking out.

Louis never imagined that Zayn could scream like a girl, but he could. His shrieks filled the dark tunnels as Zayn ran around in a circle. Niall had to cover his eyes because the screams were so high pitched. The blonde bet if Zayn ever sung, he could definitely hit the high notes. “Get it off, get it off” Zayn screamed, as he shot fire at the animal. The rat easily dodged Zayn’s attacks and dug its nails deeper into the boy. 

Louis was too busy laughing to help his friend. Tears were rolling down his face, as Louis collapsed to the ground. His chest began to cramp from all the laughing. “This isn’t funny” Zayn screeched. 

“Kinda is” Louis giggled, as he watched the rat begin to crawl around on Zayn’s back. Niall attempted to help, but Zayn wouldn't hold still. 

“Stop running Zayn” Niall pleaded, as he chased after the boy. Zayn didn’t hear him, over all the screaming he was doing. Niall kept chasing Zayn grabbing, aimlessly at his friend’s back. 

The fire on Zayn’s arm went out, leaving the three lads completely in the dark. Louis heard a smack and a body hitting the ground. Niall groaned loudly and Louis assumed he had run into the wall. “You okay Niall” Louis asked, as he got up putting out his arms. Louis felt around in the dark trying to find Niall. 

“Yea” Niall muttered, rubbing the top of his head. The blonde felt a warm liquid on his fingers and knew his head was bleeding. The wound was beginning to heal and soon the cut was gone. It was as if it never existed. The only thing that would prove the cut had been there, would be the dried up blood. 

The two lads heard Zayn shriek again. “Oh my god it is on my neck”. Zayn began to light up, the boy slowly lit his body on fire. He was planning on burning the rat alive.

“Stop” Louis yelled “You are in a tiny space with me and Niall. We could get hurt”. Zayn nodded his head and stopped trying to catch his body on fire. Zayn just lit his hands, so he could actually see where he was going. 

As light filled the tunnel once again, Louis took in his surroundings. “I think the rat might be gone” Zayn exclaimed, as he looked over his body. Louis didn’t have the heart to tell Zayn that the rat was currently on his head. Instead the boy went to check on Niall.

Louis saw dry blood on Niall and quickly inspected the blonde. “I’m fine Louis. The cut already healed”. Louis sighed in relief and helped Niall up.

“Sorry” Zayn apologized, “Rats kinda freak me out”.

“I can see that” Niall commented, brushing the dirt off of him.

Louis waved over Zayn and said “Come here, I need to see something”. Zayn hesitantly walked over. Once in front of the his friend, Louis grabbed something off of Zayn’s hair. 

“What was that” Zayn asked, as he touched his hair.

“Nothing” Louis replied, “It is not important”.

“Tell me what was it” Zayn ordered. Louis huffed out his breath and showed Zayn the rat. Zayn screamed and began thrashing his head around, as if believing there were more animals in his hair. 

Niall had to hold back his laughter. Biting down on his tongue, Niall held back his giggles. This was definitely not how he pictured his day going. The boy had died like 20 minutes and was now watching his friend freak out over a rat. “I’m going to kill it” Zayn threatened, his arms projecting giant flames.

“No you aren’t” Louis said.

“And why not” Zayn growled.

“Because I protect all animals. Besides how could you kill something so cute” Louis replied cuddling the rat against his chest.

Zayn felt like throwing up. “I wouldn’t say the rat is cute” Niall admitted. 

Niall and Zayn watched Louis bring the rat to his face and begin talking to it. His voice came out in squeaks. The rat replied back and Louis chuckled slightly. “I think they are talking about me” Zayn said, as he watched the rat and Louis look at him then begin to laugh. 

Louis began bouncing with excitement. “Alright I’ll ask them” Louis exclaimed his voice no longer squeaky. “Can we keep him” Louis begged to Niall and Zayn.

“It’s fine with me” Niall responded “As long as it doesn’t touch or come near me”.

Zayn stood there silently. Louis looked at him expectantly. Could Zayn actually say no to Louis? The boy imagined Louis’s disappointed face. Zayn never wanted to be the reason for a frown on Louis’s perfect face. “Fine you can keep it” Zayn groaned.

“Thank you, thank you” Louis exclaimed, picking up the rat. “I shall call you Kevin”.

“Can we now focus on finding Liam and Harry” Niall asked. The two lads nodded their head, their attention now on finding the others.

Just as they were about to start walking, the rat squeaked frantically. Louis’s eyes grew wide as he listened to the animal. “What is it Louis?” Niall asked, panic creeping into his voice.

“Kevin says he found Liam” Louis yelled “And that he is really hurt. Kevin says he will lead us to Liam”. Kevin jumped off of Louis and ran ahead of the three boys.

“What are we waiting for. Follow the rat” Zayn ordered. All three boys took off running. All this running, though kept putting out the flames on Zayn’s arms.

Niall somehow got ahead of Zayn and Louis. The light went out again in Zayn’s arms and none of the lads could see anything. Niall kept going, he needed to find Liam. As he ran, Niall hit something hard and fell face first into the ground. The blonde held out his hands to help catch himself.

His hands did the trick and Niall stopped midway to the ground, successfully keeping his face from making contact with the floor. Niall felt around, trying to find what tripped him. He felt a foot and made his way up Liam’s body. “I found him” Niall screamed.

Light quickly formed around Niall, as Louis and Zayn caught up. The blonde had to blink a few times to get used to the sudden change in light. Louis meanwhile, took a good look at his friend and saw Liam was bleeding pretty bad from his ankle. “Is he alive” Zayn asked, afraid to know the answer. 

Niall laid his head on Liam’s chest and listened for a heartbeat. “He is still alive, but his heart beat is weak. I need to heal him” Niall reported.

“Wait” Zayn ordered “Are you going to do that thing with your arm again. Because if you are I will not allow you. It killed you the last time. Like literally, killed you”.

Niall rolled his eyes, “I had to use the water from my arm, in order to save Louis. He was going to die if I didn’t. Don’t worry, I can use the sewer water to heal Liam”.

Lifting up his arm, Niall made the disgusting green water float towards him. He made a pulling motion with his hands and separate the slime from the water. Over his left hand hovered crystal clear water, in the other was dark green slime. 

Niall threw the dirty water on the ground and went towards Liam with the nice water. Once at Liam’s ankle, Niall pressed the clear water on his injury. The bullet wound closed up, healing almost instantly. “Good job Niall” Louis praised, sitting down by Liam’s face. “I want to be the first thing he sees when he wakes up” Louis added.

“Now all we have to do is find Harry” Niall said.

“And knowing him, he probably made it back to the campsite without any trouble” Zayn joked.

Liam began to twitch and move around. His eyes opened and stared at Louis. “Am I dead?” he asked.

Louis nodded his head no. “You are alive, Niall saved you”.

Liam sat up and looked at his ankle. “I never thought I would see you guys again. I am so happy you are alive. Thank you for healing me, Niall”.

“No problem it was the least I could do” Niall blushed, as he said it. Liam pulled Niall in for a hug and soon all four boys were embracing. 

“How did you guys meet up?” Liam questioned.

Louis and Zayn looked at each other smirking. “It is a long story” Louis chuckled, as he recalled the past events in his mind. Niall giggled softly and snuggled against Liam. 

“I’m so glad we found each other” Niall said.

“Me too. I don’t know what I would do without you lads” Liam agreed. 

“All we have to do is find Harry and the gang will be back together” Louis declared. 

Zayn helped the others up from the ground. They had no idea where to start the search for their missing friend. Niall recalled where he last saw Harry and the lads decided to head in that direction. As they left the tunnel, Liam asked “No, but really how did you guys find each other?”. The others just laughed and continued forward.

“You really don’t want to know” Niall said.

“Try me” Liam responded. “It’s not like any of you died”.


	17. Finding Harry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For you @loveblockhater

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN NIALL ACTUALLY DIED” Liam shrieked, grabbing Niall. “I can’t leave you guys alone for an hour without one of you dying”. Liam didn't even want to picture a dead Niall. A shiver went up his spine just thinking about Niall being lifeless. 

“Liam don’t act like we liked seeing a dead Niall. Zayn and I were a mess” Louis explained tears forming in his eyes. “It is something I never want to see again”.

Liam hugged Niall against his chest not wanting to let the boy go. It scared to know he had almost lost the blond. “Don’t ever do something that stupid again” Liam whispered, quietly to Niall. The voice sounded so broken and vulnerable Niall felt guilty. How could he cause the lads so much pain. If he did something like this back when he lived with his dad, Niall’s father would not have cared. He would have been happy, overjoyed. 

“I promise I won’t” Niall responded “Now let’s go find Harry”. 

Zayn picked up the blond’s backpack and instantly dropped it. “What the hell is in your bag?” Zayn asked.

Niall blushed and took his bag and unzipped it. “I got these books for Louis. They are animal books, so Louis can turn into more creatures. I’ll carry it if they are too heavy”. The blond pulled out a book and showed it to the lads.

Louis’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you Niall. No one has ever done something like this for me before” Louis cried. “You really are amazing”.

Much to Niall’s annoyance, Liam wouldn’t let Niall carry the backpack. Liam held it instead, afraid that the weight would hurt his little Niall. The four lads crept to a sewer lid and stood at the bottom listening. All they heard was silence. Liam pushed the lid off the sewer using his earth powers. 

“Louis send Kevin up to the top and have him check it out” Zayn suggested, still not really liking the rat. Zayn secretly hoped the rat would die if it went to the surface. He still hadn’t forgiven the animal for climbing up on his shoulder. 

“Good idea” Louis exclaimed, picking up Kevin. He explained the plan to the rat. Kevin seemed to understand and crawled through the hole and went to the surface. “Good luck” Louis said to the animal as it crawled out of sight. 

The boys waited a couple minutes and Kevin still hadn’t returned. Louis began to fear the worst. He really hoped nothing bad had happened to the animal. Just when Louis was about to turn into a bird, Kevin came back. He squeaked to the boy, letting him know the streets were clear. “It’s clear for now let’s go” Louis ordered. 

There was no ladder so the lads weren’t sure how to climb through the hole. Zayn’s eyes light up as he suggested, “Let’s boost each other up and then Louis can fly up in bird form. He can warn us if there is any trouble”. The others nodded their head and set Zayn’s plan into action.

Liam wanted to go first, so he could make sure the streets were safe. He was going to protect his boys. He never wanted them to separate again. Zayn and Louis gave Liam a boost and he climbed through the sewer hole. Once on the surface Liam looked around. It was quiet, too quiet. Liam didn’t like this one bit. He felt completely exposed in the middle of the street. 

Next came Niall, who Zayn picked up easily and handed to Liam. Liam grabbed Niall’s hand and pulled him up. He was surprised at how light the boy was. Zayn appeared next and Liam helped pull him up.

Louis flew up in bird form and took to the sky with the intent of making sure the boys were safe. He would warn them of trouble. Louis was a little scared because last time he did this, he was shot and almost died. But he needed to brave for the others. They needed him.

Niall led the Zayn and Liam to where he last saw Harry. Liam took the rear, ready to attack anyone if they tried to hurt his friends. The lads crept ahead, careful not to make a sound. 

The coast seemed clear. Liam had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, but he choose to ignore it. His full attention needed to be on finding Harry. Zayn watched Louis in the sky. He hated that Louis was in bird form again. Last time he was Zayn watched his friend get shot. He kept his eyes on the bird the whole time, making sure Louis never left his sight.

Kevin ran beside the boys occasionally squeaking, but other than that keeping quiet. Niall motioned to go down an alley and the boys listened. Liam signaled for Louis to land. Once everyone had gathered Niall whispered, “This is where I last saw Harry. We separated here. Harry ran to the right and I went left”. 

“So we go right and then what” Zayn asked. Niall shrugged, not knowing the answer, finding Harry was going to be a lot harder than he thought. Niall just kinda hoped Harry would be here, but he wasn’t. “I mean how do we know if he hasn’t gone back to the camp”.

“I don’t think he would leave us” Niall said or at least he hoped. Louis squawked in agreement. “I say we go right and just keep looking, because I am not leaving right without Harry”.

“Same here” Zayn agreed.

“Well Louis go back into the sky and yell if you see trouble. Let’s find Harry” Liam planned, now taking the lead. Zayn took the back. Each boy looked for any signs of their missing friend.

Little did the lads know they were walking straight into a trap. The city had seen deserted and quiet for a reason. The bad guys were hidden out of sight. The lads were being watched and the bad guys were planning a sneak attack on them. “They are heading straight towards the trap” one man reported.

“Good we will kill them when they arrive. They have no idea what is coming” the leader responded watching the lads continue to walk down the empty streets. They were walking straight to their deaths.

Meanwhile Harry was still under the car. Harry was in the middle of crying for like the hundredth time. He kept imagining all of his friends dead, just like Gemma. He felt completely useless and powerless. “Why did you leave Niall?” he scolded himself. Harry just wanted to die. He never wanted to be alone again.

The four lads had become his new family and they were now probably dead because of him. New tears formed in Harry’s eyes as he realized how alone he was. 

“You killed them” Gemma screamed, materializing in front of Harry. 

“You’re not real” Harry cried, covering his ears. Harry knew he was imagining her, but she wouldn’t go away. Harry couldn’t hide from his past.

“You killed me and Niall and all the others. You get everyone you love killed” Gemma said, crawling next to Harry.

The boy’s vision became blurry as tears ran down his face. He pleaded “Go away please go away”.

“I will always be with you Harry. A constant reminder of how you couldn’t help me” 

Harry wept and closed his eyes, hoping when he opened them Gemma would be gone. He opened them and saw Gemma right in front of his face. “Not only did you let me die” Gemma yelled “But you went with the man who killed me”.

“I’m sorry” Harry croaked, rocking back and forth in the fetal position. “I just didn’t want to be alone”. 

Gemma disappeared once again, casting one last sad glance at Harry. “I’m sorry” Harry repeated as he cried again. He closed his eyes, praying this would all be a bad dream.

When he opened his eyes up, he came face to face with a barrel of a gun. “Get out from under the car real slow or I will blow your brains out kid” a voice threatened. Harry did as he was told.

“Where are my friends” Harry asked.

“They’re dead. Their bodies are hung up in the highway you came in on. I’ll take you to them” the man said evilly. 

Harry fell on the ground crying. This can’t be happening, his worst nightmare is coming true. “You were with the blond one weren’t you” the man taunted. When Harry didn’t respond the man got his answer.

“He was the most fun to kill. He screamed the whole time, asking where you were. Asking why you left him. I made sure his death was nice and slow. I slowly stabbed the knife in him making sure he felt every stab. It took him minutes to die. He cried and wept just like a baby” the man explained smirking darkly. Harry fell onto his knees, sobbing.

Gemma appeared again “See what you did Harry. You’re a murderer. You are a monster”.

“I’m a failure. I’m sorry Gemma. I’m sorry Niall” Harry cried. “Please just kill me”.

“With pleasure” the man grinned pressing the gun against Harry’s head. Harry closed his eyes and welcomed death. He hoped he could see Niall again, but he knew he was probably going to hell. Hell was where he belonged. 

Gemma stared cruelly at Harry. There was no pity in her eyes. Harry wanted to escape the pain and guilt, he was feeling. He wanted everything to be over. “Just do it” Harry yelled. 

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the air.


	18. It's a Trap

Harry closed his eyes as he welcomed his death. The sound of the safety being turned off, filled Harry’s ears. His heart began to race. Everything was about to be over in a moment. All the heartache and pain was about to go away. All the worry about defeating the Fearsome Five and trying to fix the world just gone. He felt the gun get placed on the side of his face. This is it. The end of everything. Now he could be with Niall and the other lads. 

The sound of the gun getting cocked back gave Harry goosebumps. The man’s hand, sat at the trigger. He grinned evilly as he got himself ready to press the trigger back. This was not the first person he killed and certainly would not be the last. The kid was making it too easy for the man though. He wished for a challenge, but all he got was a sad teenager. He loved a good struggle. A person begging for his life gave the man chills. It was almost like he enjoyed it. Like he lived for it. The thrill he got from taking someone’s life was scary. Watching the life leave a person’s eyes had become his drug. 

Just as he got ready to kill Harry, the man’s walkie talkie went off. He didn’t want the sound of the gunshot to block out any of the message. Last time he missed the message almost cost him his life. He could shoot Harry once he heard what his leader had to say.

From the walkie talkie came the message, “The four boys are walking straight into the trap. Everyone head to their assigned spots and open fire on my command. Those kids won’t know see it coming. I want their dead bodies strung up on the highway when we are finished”.

Harry’s eyes snapped open. “You lied” he screamed. The wind began to pick up speed, as if feeding off of Harry’s anger. “My friends are still alive”.

“Yea but not for long” the man shot back “You’ll just get to heaven a little earlier than them”. The wind roared in anger, the bad guy’s hair blew around. The man pulled the trigger on the gun.

A gunshot filled the air, but no one was hurt or killed. Harry moved out of the way in a flash, he was as fast as the wind. The man fired more bullets at Harry, but the boy easily dodged them. He became one with the wind, moving gracefully as he slid out of the gunfire. He made it seem easy, dodging the weapon. Some bullets he stopped in the air, making them hover non threateningly over the ground. The look on Harry’s face was not human at all. It was filled with pure rage and anger. He looked like a monster ready to eat his prey. The once green eyes were glazed over. The eyes were black and soulless and it terrified the man.

The man backed up throwing the gun to the ground. He tried to run away, but Harry was too quick. The man was sucked up in the strong winds. Harry spun him around and laughed darkly to himself. He liked watching his prey squirm. “No one messes with my friends and gets away with it” Harry growled. “Now it's your turn to die”. Before the man could protest he was thrown towards the ground. He survived the fall crying and moaning in pain, so Harry did it again and again. Blood and flesh spattered on the ground, making sickening sounds. He continued to do it until there was nothing recognizable left of the man. Harry was covered in blood and organs. Breathing heavily, trying to calm down. The glaze over his eyes went away as the anger left Harry. He should have felt ashamed of his action but he didn’t. The man deserved it. He had it coming. Harry needed to get to the lads before they suffered a similar fate. That was all the mattered to Harry right now.

First Harry needed to find out where the meet-up point was. He needed to know where the trap was. Clicking on the walkie talkie, Harry made his voice deep trying to sound like a man and asked “Can anyone tell me where the meet-up place is to shoot the kids?” Harry wanted to hit himself. He did not sound like a man, but a kid trying to pretend to be one. 

Harry listened to static for a couple of seconds, praying someone would answer his question. Much to his relief a voice responded, “It’s at the bridge kid. Nice adult voice. Go to your assigned side of the bridge and open fire when you hear the command. Get here quick because our targets are about 5 minutes away”. 

Harry didn’t need to be told twice and took off running. He didn’t really have a plan just save the others. Harry stopped caring if people saw him use his powers. The boys needed to be saved. Liam might kill him for using his powers, but as long as Harry got to see Niall alive and well he didn’t care. 

Maybe Harry thought, he could send tornados to the bridge. Harry would never show himself, so the bad guys would think it was just crazy weather. The lads, though would know something is up. Harry hoped the lads could figure out Harry was sending a warning. Or at least have the bad guys leave the bridge, so it wouldn’t be open season for his friends. Hopefully the tornado will keep the lads away from the bridge. Harry crossed his fingers hoping his plan would work. He now had a reason to fight for his life and survive. As long as the lads were alive he was. If ever did lose them that would be the end of Harry. 

Harry set the plan into action and forged several tornados. He used his wind ability to make the hot and cold air spin around each other fast. Harry could now control where the tornado went and how big it could get. It was time to save his friends.

Liam was nervous. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Something was definitely not right. It started the second Louis’s rat ran off and never came back. It squeaked in terror as it scurried off. The streets were too quiet. The only path that seemed to be open was the path that lead to the bridge. Whenever him and the lads tried to stray from the path, they were greeted with guns . It seems they were always chased right back to the path to the bridge.

Liam was beginning to freak out. “I don’t like this guys” he stated. Liam whistled signaling for Louis to fly down, since he was still in bird form. “Do you see anything out there” Liam asked. Louis shook his bird head no, picking up on his friend’s panic.

“I really don’t want to go over the bridge” Liam said, fear creeping into his voice. “I have a really bad feeling”.

“I’ll do whatever you think is best” Zayn declared, putting his arm on Liam’s shoulder. “I trust your judgement”.

“Liam maybe you can use your power and try to sense if anyone is around” Niall suggested. He really wanted to go over the bridge. For some reason he thought Harry was there. It was like he could sense the boy. 

Liam looked over at Niall debating the idea. What if someone saw him use his power? They would only see Liam hit his foot on the ground. Liam decided he would do it, but he was still weak from all the blood he lost when he got shot. “I’ll try” Liam stated, slamming his foot down on the ground. 

The vibrations only went a couple before they came back to Liam. The boy fell over, exhausted. Sweat poured off of his face. He was too weak to try using his powers on that big of a scale. He only saw about 10 feet, which was not really helpful. Liam breathed heavily on the ground, hoping the world would stop spinning around.

Louis chirped in concern and flew over to his fallen friend. Niall slid next to Liam asking “Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help? Where does it hurt?”

Zayn gently pulled Niall back suggesting, “Let’s give Liam some space to catch his breath”. Niall nodded his head, sad he couldn’t help his friend. 

They hovered quietly over Liam waiting for him to regain his energy. Louis begged to become human again, but Zayn wouldn’t let him. “We don’t know who is watching” Zayn reminded, “Just stay by us”.

The whole city seemed to be filled with silence. Zayn bet if someone dropped a pin he could hear it. “I say we go over the bridge. I feel like Harry is on the other side” Niall speculated. Being out in the middle of the streets made Niall think he and the lads were sitting ducks. They needed to move before the bad guys caught up with them.

“I still think it is a bad idea” Liam chimed in standing up. The color drained out of him. He looked like he would collapse at any moment. He definitely would not be helpful in a fight if it came to it. 

“Well we just can’t sit here. Where do you suggest we go?” Niall shot back. He didn’t want to sit around anymore, he wanted to find Harry.

Liam looked around and saw that the lads really had no other options. All the other paths were blocked with debris. Liam did not have the energy to crawl over fallen buildings. The bridge did seem like the clearest and easiest path. “Fine” Liam groaned “We will go over the bridge”.

“Lean on me” Zayn ordered, when he saw how wobbly Liam was when he walked. Liam looked drunk when he tried to walk by himself. Liam did as he was told. Louis flew onto Niall’s shoulder and stayed there, perched on the blond. He really didn’t want to be away from the lads.

As they walked they heard a gunshot. The three boys stopped dead in their tracks. “Harry”, Niall screamed. The yell was answered by an eerie silence. Niall began to panic. “I need to find him” he exclaimed, as he took off running toward the bridge. The boys were about 20 feet from it now. 

“Niall wait” Zayn worried. He didn’t like how far ahead the blond was getting. If trouble happened Zayn wouldn’t be able to get to Niall and protect Liam. 

Just as Niall was about to step onto the bridge, tornadoes appeared from the sky. They touched the ground and began wreaking havoc. “That’s a sign from Harry. He is in trouble. We have to help him” Niall yelled to Zayn and Liam. Louis flew off of the blond and landed next to Liam. He feared the strong winds would blow him away. “I have to help him”.

Zayn didn’t like this, not one bit. He tried to figure out why Harry sent down a storm to show his position. Liam’s knees buckled and he fell to the ground unconscious. “Shit” Zayn muttered. Now Liam was down, Louis was a bird, and Niall was about to take off running away from Zayn. None of this was good. That is when Zayn saw why Harry made the tornados.

In the storm, he saw men being lifted off of the ground getting thrown around. The guns in their hands fell of the bridge. The men were all over the bridge. Zayn noticed some hiding right by where Niall was. They were wearing camouflage to hide their presence. “They were waiting for us” Zayn whispered everything clicking in his head. On the bridge there would have been no where to run. If they jumped they would die. Bullets flying from both sides would most definitely kill them. They would be screwed if they went on the bridge.

Zayn looked over and saw Niall step onto the bridge. “NIALL STOP. It’s a trap. GET OFF THE BRIDGE NOW” Zayn screamed at the top of his lungs. He needed to be heard over the roaring wind.

Niall glanced over at Zayn and saw men appear in front of him holding guns. There were at least 50 of them. They had been hiding in cars and on the side of the bridge. None of them looked friendly. The guns were trained on Niall and Zayn felt completely helpless. “RUN” Zayn ordered as he picked Liam up and ran in the opposite direction. He needed to get the boy out of the line of fire. Once Liam was safe, Zayn could focus on helping Niall. “Louis follow me”.

Niall ran and slid under the nearest car. The spot he had just been at was filled with bullets. He heard gunfire hit the car he was hiding under. The car shook and thrashed around getting hit with a hail of gunfire. Niall crawled to the front of the car and crept forward. Bullets flew past his head, some even grazing his hair. Niall glanced behind and saw the men had divided themselves. Half went after Niall, while the other half went to kill Zayn. 

There was no where to go. If Niall tried to run across the bridge, he would die. If he sat here they would kill him. There was no water on the bridge or under it. He could bend the water in people, but he hated doing it. Bloodbending gave Niall nightmares. The pain people suffered when he did it was unbearable to watch . If worse came to worse Niall might have to consider it. The men were getting closer, destroying all that was in their path with their weapons. Niall was out of options and out of time.

“Screw it” Niall mumbled. He pushed himself up and ran to the other end. He zigzagged across the bridge, trying to make it hard for the shooters to get a clear target. But with 20 gunmen, Niall became easier to hit. More men meant more bullets. Halfway across the bridge, Niall was shot in the leg. It hit his left knee and went straight through. Screaming in pain, the blond fell to the ground. 

Meanwhile, Zayn dragged Liam and threw him in a car. Quietly shutting the door, he hoped the hiding place would work. “Louis what is the biggest animal you can turn into? Please don’t tell me it is the bobcat” Zayn whispered.

Louis chirped sadly and Zayn knew his answer. The bobcat was the only killer animal he could turn into. When the lads got out of this situation, Zayn was going to make Louis read all the animal books Niall got. 

“Fly ahead and find Harry” Zayn ordered, “Maybe he can help us”. Louis nodded his head and took off. 

Zayn looked over and saw the men searching for him. He needed to get away from the car, if he wanted to keep Liam safe. Taking a deep breath and gathering up courage, Zayn ran across the path. He headed under the bridge, hearing bullets fly past him. Zayn really hoped Niall was doing better than him. 

Niall was surrounded at the moment. Each man had their gun trained on him, almost begging him to move so they can shoot him. Niall whimpered and saw his leg was beginning to heal. If it healed quickly, maybe Niall could try to run again. “Get up and die like a man” a figure barked, pushing Niall up.

A gun was placed against Niall’s forehead and the blond closed his eyes. All the fight had drained out of him. He was the reason Zayn and all the others were in trouble. He had led them to the bridge. Niall should have listened to Liam’s warnings. This was his punishment for putting his friends lives in danger. 

Zayn ran under the bridge. He was running for his life. If he stopped even for a second he would be shot dead. “If I live through this I’m going to kill Niall myself” Zayn promised. He didn’t mean it. Zayn really just wanted to say one last sarcastic thing before he died. More gunmen appeared in front of him. They formed a circle around Zayn and slowly moved in. Zayn didn’t know if he should use his powers or not. If he did and one of these men survived then the Fearsome Five would know of their existence. “Say goodnight kid” a man said, stepping forward training his gun on Zayn.

“Fuck” Zayn groaned.


	19. Not an Update

I know I have written in a while and I am sorry. Right now though I am in Spain and I can't really write. I will be here for about a month. I promise once I get back I will update. Thank you for continuing to read my stories. I love you guys. Have a great summer.


	20. The Reunion

Zayn closed his hands into a fist getting ready to release his fire power. Using his powers, seemed to be the only way Zayn could get out of this situation. The tornadoes Harry formed were too far away to help him. Louis was no where to be seen, and Zayn could no longer hear or see Niall. Zayn needed to get to the others, and if that meant using his powers, then so be it. He could deal with Liam being anger later. Right now the boy needed to make sure his friends were alive. Zayn began to form fire in his hands, but he feared it wouldn’t be enough. Maybe he would need to go full flame, and let his whole body catch on fire. He had only done it once before, and had almost burned down the army base. But this was an emergency. Much to the boy’s surprise, the need to actually summon fire wasn't necessary.

Zayn watched in awe as the men turned and pointed their weapons at each other. It was like their arms had a mind of their own. The bad guys looked visibly shaken as they lost control of their limbs. “What’s happening? Why can’t I move my arms?”, the soldier next to Zayn screamed, his voice full of panic. Once the guns were trained on the hearts of their targets, the whole area went quiet. It seemed all the soldiers knew what was going to happen. There was no way to escape death. Slowly their fingers went to the triggers of the guns.

In a swift movement, all the men pulled the triggers at the same time. The sound of hundreds of guns going off echoed through the air. Zayn fell to the ground and curled into a ball, hoping to dodge the guns. He prayed none of the bullets would hit him. The tornados disappeared in the air, leaving the sound of the bodies hitting the ground to be heard by all. All the men, that moments before were trying to kill Zayn were dead. The boy had just witnessed each soldier shoot their comrades in the heart.

Relief filled Zayn, when he realized he didn’t need to use his powers. The relief was short lived though, when Zayn remembered the others. He needed to find Niall and see if the boy was okay. Taking one last look at the massacre, Zayn went to retrieve Liam who was still passed out and then find the other lads.

Meanwhile, Harry was having a mini panic attack with Louis. “What if they are all dead?” Harry cried. He feared that those gunshots he heard were being shot at his teammates. “They are dead and it’s all my fault”.

“Harry calm down” Louis soothed. “We shouldn’t assume. I’ll fly ahead and scope out the area. Stay hidden”. Louis didn’t wait for a response, he just flew off. If he stayed with Harry any longer he would have burst out crying. He really hoped he wouldn’t see the dead bodies of his comrades. His eyes began forming tears just imagining any of the lads dead. “Please don’t be dead” Louis pleaded to himself. 

“Louis don’t leave me” Harry croaked. What if Louis got hurt? Without even thinking Harry took off after Louis lifting himself in the air. 

When Zayn reached the car he opened it quietly and slowly, not wanting to disturb Liam. Just as he grabbed the unconscious boy, Louis landed on top of the car still in bird form. He looked around before changing back into his human form. “What just happened?” Louis asked, his eyes filled with confusion after seeing all the dead soldiers. Harry came down next to Zayn having flown over the bridge using his air powers. 

Zayn jumped slightly when Harry landed next to him. But he recomposed himself, and pulled Harry in for a hug. “I was so worried about you, Harry. I’m glad you are okay” Zayn whispered. Harry wrapped his arms around Zayn and the boys both embraced each other.

“Again. What the hell just happened?” Louis interrupted, pushing himself in between the hugging boys. Harry shot him a look.

“You left me Louis” Harry said completely ignoring Louis’s question, his tone was sad.

“I’m sorry. You were freaking me out and I needed to find the others”

“It’s fine I guess, just never do it again” Harry begged looking completely vulnerable.

“I promise” Louis promised squeezing Harry’s hand. “Zayn do you know what happened? Why did the soldiers shoot each other?”. 

“I don’t really care what happened as long as we find Niall and get out of here” Zayn stated. “Now will someone help me carry Liam?”. Harry volunteered to help, so Zayn carried Liam by the arms while Harry held the boy’s legs. 

Louis ran ahead and began searching for Niall. “Niall where are?”, Louis yelled across the bridge. Louis heard the blond before he saw him. The dark, eerie night was filled with sobs from Niall. Lifeless men lay sprawled out across the bridge. Zayn noted that all the soldiers were dead from bullet wombs. He assumed they turned on each other just like he had witnessed a couple minutes ago. “Niall” Louis called out, following the sound of the boy’s cries.

The lads found Niall on the ground hugging his knees. His back leaned against a car which helped keep him upright. Tears were running down his face, and he refused to look at any of the boys. Louis sat down in front of Niall, trying to comfort the boy. “What’s wrong?” Louis asked, concern written all over his face.

“I did this” Niall responded gesturing to all the dead bodies. Louis’s jaw dropped as he tried to imagine Niall being responsible for the soldier's deaths. How could someone who looked so innocent have that much power?

“Are you joking?” Louis asked, not able to mask the horror on his face. Niall didn’t answer and Louis wasn’t sure what to do or say.

Zayn gently placed Liam on the ground and walked towards Niall. He needed to talk to the boy, since Louis was at a loss of words. Harry followed not really sure what to say. In Harry’s mind Niall did nothing wrong, so he shouldn’t be upset with himself. “Niall you saved me because of what you did” Zayn consoled, trying to make the boy feel better. 

Niall still didn’t look up and cried even harder. Nothing Zayn said seemed to calm the blond down. Harry began to grow frustrated, as he paced around. Finally Harry had enough and yelled “Niall why are you acting like so a baby. This is our life. We have to kill to survive. You saved everyone, so I don’t see why you are so upset, unless you regret saving everyone.”

“I don’t regret it” Niall whispered. It was barely audible. If Harry wasn’t paying attention it would have missed it.

“Then get over it and accept you killed these people to save us” Harry vented, not understanding these words were hurting Niall.

Niall’s cries became silent. He hid his head in between his legs and pleaded “Leave me”.

“No way Niall” Zayn argued. 

“Why not, I’m a monster”

“No you aren’t” Louis added.

Niall chuckled slightly to himself. “Louis admit it, you are scared of me. You hate me now because I killed all those men. You can’t even look me in the eye”. Louis didn’t have time to respond because Niall wasn’t done his rant. 

Niall pushed himself off the ground and lifted his hands in the air. “Do you know how I made these soldiers die?” he screamed. With his hands, he made two dead bodies stand up. “I made them. I took control of their limbs by blood bending”. Niall forced the bodies to jump over the bridge.

“I forced them to murder each other. I blood bended, something I swore to never do again” Niall huffed, new tears running down his face. “No matter how hard they struggled or fought they couldn’t escape my grasp”.

“That is cool though” Harry burst out. “You can take out a whole army with just a simple swipe of your hands. Do you know how easy it will be to take down the Fearsome Five now?”

“But I don’t want to use this power ever again” Niall yelled, sinking back to the ground.

“Why?” Harry questioned.

“Because” Niall confessed “I feel everything. I become part of that person. I feel their pain, their fear. When they die I feel the life leave them. It’s kinda like a small part of me dies with them”. Niall began sobbing again, the pain hitting him that he murdered hundreds of people.

Zayn pushed Harry out of the way and shot him a glare. “You felt all these soldiers die?”. Niall nodded his head yes and hugged his knees again. Zayn pulled the blond in for a hug. At first, Niall stiffened in Zayn’s grasp, but he slowly loosened up. Niall wrapped his arms around Zayn and cried into the boy’s shoulder. Louis rubbed Niall’s back and whispered soothing words.

“Niall I’m sorry if I made you think I hated you. But I could never hate you Niall. You mean way too much to me” Louis confessed earning a small and short lived smile on Niall’s face.

Harry watched the scene wishing he could join in, but he was scared to get rejected. Harry sat cross legged next to Liam and waited patiently. Liam was still unconscious and it didn’t look like he would be waking up anytime soon. Harry wished he could apologize to Niall for his outburst, but it was too late. What is said is said and can’t be taken back. 

“Harry” Niall croaked, pushing away from Zayn. Niall opened up his arms, and Harry didn’t hesitate to jump in them. Louis and Zayn joined into the hug, and Harry finally felt like he belonged. These boys right here were his family. “I’m so glad you are okay” Niall said to Harry, “I was so scared you were hurt or worse”.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily” Harry joked. Harry wasn’t used to people getting worried about him. But it was a feeling he could get used to.

“I’m sorry if I’m not strong enough Harry. I know you must be ashamed of you” Niall apologized.

Harry’s head shot up and he looked Niall directly in the eyes. “I could never be ashamed of you. You the kindest, most beautiful person I ever met. You are so brave. Niall you blood bended and knew how you would be affected. I’m sorry for being an ass. I am trying to change, but I keep making an idiot of myself. I know I will never be good enough to call you a friend.”

“Shut up Harry. You are my friend” Niall interrupted.

Zayn and Louis smiled at each other, glad Niall didn’t close his walls and that Harry opened up more. The team that started out so disfunctional was now beginning to become a family and a force to be reckoned with. The Fearsome Five better watch out.

A clearing of a throat snapped the four lads out of their group hug. 4 sets of eyes turned to see Liam staring at them. “What did I miss? I swear I miss everything. First it was Niall dying and then a bonding moment. Man I really need to stop being unconscious”

“What do you mean Niall dying?” Harry asked.

“He’s just joking” Niall said, sending Liam a look of don’t bring it up.

“Yea it was just a joke” Liam lied, a small grin forming on his face.

“I know everyone loved this little trip to the city, but can we please head back to the campsite. I would love to be able to sit down for just an hour without someone trying to kill me” Louis said. 

All the lads groaned in agreement and began standing up. “Wait” Niall called out. “You guys have been here for me for these past couple of days and actually cared about me. And I don’t want to keep my past a secret anymore. You guys deserve to know the truth, and if you don’t want me in the group anymore, I will understand.”

“Niall if you don’t want to talk about it we won’t make you” Liam added, lightly squeezing Niall’s hand.

“But I want to. In these past few days, you have showed me more love and compassion than I ever got when I lived with my dad”. 

This seemed to shut the boys up. “What did your dad do?” Louis asked, scared to know the answer. 

“My father ran a community of survivors in one of the castles of Ireland. He loved my mom and my brother. And i was a mistake. I was never supposed to be born. I was just an annoyance to him that he ignored. Those few years were the best of my life. I had my brother and mom, who loved me very much. I couldn’t ask for more. Then my power was discovered on the day I tripped down the stairs. I healed within seconds in front of my parents.

‘My dad became jealous that he didn’t have my ability. He believed since he was ruler of the community he should be the one with the ability to heal. The power began to go to his head. He thought he was actual royalty and wanted to experiment on me. When my mom wasn’t looking he would harm me and watch me heal. 

‘When my mom found out she freaked out and they had a huge argument. After that day my dad began to treat me differently. He would go out of his way to hurt me, instead of just ignoring me like he used to do. He began to resent anyone who liked me. To him I was just a freak who never should have been born”. Niall paused for a minute and wiped his eyes. “And then everything changed when my mom and brother got sick. I tried to heal them, but I couldn’t”.

Fresh tears ran down the boy’s face as he continued, “They died because of me. My dad blamed me and locked me in my room. Everyday he would visit me and beat me to a pulp. I would heal and he would come back the next day and do it all again. All the days blurred together as I was beat. And it’s not like the pain ever went away. Every punch hurt just like the first one.”

Zayn was becoming furious with Niall’s story. How could someone be so cruel to their own child? How could anyone hurt Niall? It is a parent's job to love their kids. Zayn’s hand closed into a fist and began to smoke. He didn’t want to imagine anyone ever hurting Niall. Liam sensed Zayn’s tension and whispered “Calm down. We need to stay strong for Niall”. Liam held Zayn’s hand helping the boy calm down. 

“The beatings got worse as the years continued. He would bring out new toys to try out on me. The knives were the worst. The things he would do are too horrible to even describe.” Niall stroked his arm as if remembering a bad memory.

“Sometimes I wouldn’t heal because of the amount of blood I Iost and my dad would throw me in a tub of water. I would heal and be ready for another day of torture. The day Paul found me, my dad had left me for dead to be burned alive, after stabbing me repeatedly in the chest.’

‘I shouldn’t even be in this group. I am just some broken kid, who couldn’t even save his brother and mother. I am useless, just like my dad said. I’ll just slow you guys down. Sometimes, I wish I had died in the fire like my father wanted. I’m a fr..”

“Niall stop” Liam cried, “You are not useless. Don’t ever say that about yourself again”.

“There would be no us without you. Niall you complete this group” Zayn added, his lip beginning to tremble. 

“You shouldn’t even call that man your father because he isn’t. He is a sick person. You didn’t deserve that treatment, Niall. Nothing your father said was true, please believe us” Louis pleaded.

Niall shrugged, not really believing the lads. “Let us try and help you. Let us show you how great you are” Liam suggested. “It won’t happen overnight but you can’t shut us out anymore. If you want us to help you, Niall you have to talk to us. Can you promise to do that?”.

Niall nodded his head “but you’ll see my father is right. You will grow to hate me just like him”.

“No we won’t. I would rather die than be the reason a frown formed on your face” Zayn responded, gently wiping away a tear that had fallen down Niall’s cheek.

The lads all sat around in a comfortable silence. Each boy was trying to process Niall’s story. Harry couldn’t wrap his head around it. He really didn’t want to believe it was true. 

“Can we please get out of here before another army appears and tries to kill us?” Louis begged, breaking the silence. He still did not feel entirely safe standing on the middle of the bridge. He was also kinda creeped out having all these dead bodies surrounding him. 

And with that the lads began their journey back to their campsite. Liam hoped it was still there, though because if it wasn’t they would be in some serious trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back from Spain my lovely readers. Thank you for being patient. I plan to update once a week. How do you guys like One Direction's new song? Because I can't stop listening to it.


	21. Phone Call from Hell

Joe pushed himself off the ground and ran. He didn’t care he was bleeding from his shoulder. He didn’t care that he could bleed to death. He honestly didn’t care if he died. Actually Joe did want to die. He wanted to curl up in a ball and let death take him, but he couldn’t. Before he could peacefully die, he needed to tell the Fearsome Five about the attack in the city. Everytime he closed his eyes, he was haunted by visions. The events of all his friends turning on each other, ran through his head.

The run to the home base was a blur. Joe’s legs carried the him to the desired location, without being told to do so. Joe was in a trance and watched the world go by in a blur. No pain or exhaustion was registered in his body. Joe was in a state of shock. He couldn’t get over what had just happened.

He reached the next camp in record time, but he didn’t really care. “Oh my god Joe! Are you okay” a voice yelled, running towards the injured boy. Joe collapsed on the ground, finally letting the pain from his shoulder catch up to him. 

“Call the Fearsome Five” Joe muttered, before passing out. The person who found Joe, yelled for help and picked up their fallen comrade.

Joe was carried to the medical tent by his rescuer and laid down on a cot. “What happened?” a nurse asked, beginning to treat the wound. 

“I don’t know. I saw him come running out of the forest. He seemed to be in some sort of trance” the person reported.

“You did all you could Seth” the nurse replied. “If you hadn’t have found him when you did, Joe would be dead”. Seth smiled hearing, he saved his friend. Him and Joe had been friends since they joined the Fearsome Five’s army, which was a little over 5 years ago. He was glad that he was on the night’s watch tonight. Some of the people who do the night’s watch don’t take their jobs seriously. If it was one of the other men, Seth feared Joe might have died.

Seth then remembered Joe’s request before passing out. “Take care of him nurse. I need to go contact the Fearsome Five.”

“Why?” the nurse exclaimed, beginning to shake with fear. No one liked calling the group.

“Joe told me to before he passed out” Seth answered, leaving the tent. The nurse knew something bad was about to go down. People just don’t contact the evil group out of the blue. And if the Fearsome Five thought their time was wasted, they wouldn’t hesitate to murder the whole base. It had happened before, and resulted in no one ever calling the group again for help. The nurse prayed the villains wouldn’t think the emergency was a waste of time. She did not plan on dying tonight. 

Seth went to the general’s tent and told him everything that had happened. The general listened intently and sent a squad to check on the town, before the Fearsome Five was called. When the squad arrived back at the base, they described the horrors of what they saw. “There are dead bodies everywhere” one person reported. “It was a slaughterhouse. I say we call the Fearsome Five.”

When the general heard the report he walked over to his phone. The phone had only one number on it and was only supposed to be used in emergencies. This definitely was an emergency, so the general pressed the call button.

His heart raced during each ring. On the third ring someone picked up. “This better be important” the voice on the other end said.

“It is” the general promised. “We found a whole squad of my m…

“Listen don’t tell me everything on the phone because I won’t care or listen. Give me your location and me and my team will be over soon. You called the number, so we will come. But if it’s something stupid that didn’t need to be brought to my attention, I will hold you responsible” the voice threatened. The general gave his location and then the voice hung up.

The general gulped. Never in his years of service did he have to talk to the villains. He made sure to stay out of their way and stay under their radar. Now they were going to be right on his doorstep. He immediately began to regret his decision. Maybe if he called again and said false alarm they wouldn’t come. Sadly it was too late to go back.

10 minutes later, one of his night watch people reported seeing five figures flying towards the base. The general stood in the middle of the base awaiting his guests. 

Justin arrived first teleporting next to the general. He had a smirk on his face and began to play with his pocket knife. The general took a couple steps away from Justin, afraid the knife might end up in his chest. Ed landed next. He was carrying Taylor, since she didn’t have the power of flight. He gently put her down and waited for the others to land. Josh came down last with Katy in his arms. Katy kissed her carrier on the cheek, and jumped from his embrace. 

“What seems to be the problem?” Taylor asked. The general noted that none of the villains looked like they hadn’t aged. They still looked the same age when they took over the world. Taylor’s long blond hair still looked as perfect as ever. She wore a tight black outfit, that showed off how skinny she was. Katy wore a black belly shirt and shorts, which barely covered her butt. Ed with his ginger hair, was sporting jeans and a loose t-shirt. Josh was shirtless showing off his 6 pack. And Justin was still rocking the skater boy hair. 

“Follow me this way and I will take you to Joe” the general said, pointing his finger to the medical tent. The clicks of high heels hitting the ground rang in the man’s ears, as the group followed. The man wondered how Taylor and Katy could walk in such high heels. 

Justin teleported inside the tent. The general gave a confused look. “He hates walking” Katy said.

“Yea, he grew very lazy over the years” Ed commented.

“But not me” Josh said, flexing his muscles. Katy rolled her eyes and playfully shoved Josh. Taylor laughed, leaning her head against Ed’s shoulder.

Inside the medical tent, the nurse reported Joe hadn’t woken up since he was brought in. “We’ll just have to change that” Justin commented. “Katy do your thing and wake up Sleeping Beauty”.

“With pleasure” Katy beamed, stepping towards the boy. She grabbed Joe’s arm and breathed on it. Her acid breath began to work it’s charm on the injured boy. His skin began to bubble and sizzle. After a couple of seconds, Joe’s eyes flew open and he clutched his arm in pain.

He screamed out in his agony, while the Fearsome Five looked on with zero emotion in their eyes. “You called for us sweetie” Taylor said, putting a fake smile on her face. “What seems to be the problem?”

Joe was shocked. He couldn’t believe the villain group had actually shown up. It has been his dream since he was a kid to meet the group. He had always looked up to them and would follow the group to the ends of the earth. “My squad was attacked and killed” Joe answered.

“So?” Josh barked, beginning to get angry. He couldn’t believe he had wasted his time coming out to America. America was such a dirty and depressing place. Right now the Fearsome Five was camped out in the warm Bahamas. The oceans were clear and everyone on the island was dead courtesy of the villainous group. 

“Wait let me explain” Joe protested.

“We’re all ears, but you better hurry. You don’t want to test our patience” Ed asserted. 

“Well it was just a normal day for us in the town. My team and I were chasing after a couple in the city. We followed them to a building and surrounded the place. They must have found help inside, because four boys came running out with them. ‘

‘The group split up and so did we. They were somehow able to avoid us, without getting hurt at all. It was quite frustrating. But then we came up with the idea of having a shoot out on the bridge. One of the squad members managed to corner one of the boys on the highway. Then everything went to hell.’

‘Tornadoes appeared at the end of the bridge. We managed to corner two boys. One on the top of the bridge and one under the bridge. Just as we were about to pull the trigger, but then something happened. We all lost control of our bodies. I watched in horror as we pointed our weapons at each other. My own brothers turned on each other. Nick pointed his gun at my heart and I pointed mine at him. No matter how hard I fought, my arms wouldn’t move.’

‘Somehow Nick got enough control of his body to aim his gun at my shoulder. Then in a split second the bridge erupted in gun shots. I killed my own brother. I wasn’t strong enough to fight the power. I was too weak and now I must pay the price. I watched my older brother Kevin murder my father. My whole family died in front of me and there was nothing I could do.

‘I pretended to be dead, as the boys met up on the bridge. A bird flew up next to one of them and turned into a human. The boys were alive and unhurt. And now there were five of them. They left the bridge and I went the opposite way. I came running here and then passed out.” Joe had tears running down his face by the end of his tale.

The Fearsome Five were at a loss of words. “Take us to the bridge now” Taylor commanded. It was no more fun and games with the villains.

The general got his fastest car and Katy and Taylor climbed inside. Ed and Josh flew over the vehicle, looking out for any surprise attacks. Justin teleported to the bridge to make sure it was safe. 

“The bridge is clear” Justin said, over the radio to his teammates. The others arrived quickly and took in the scene in front of them. The bridge looked like it was painted red from all the dried blood. Dead soldiers were everywhere. Each died the same way, with a gunshot wound through the heart. 

Katy looked up at her team and declared, “I knew we should have killed the boys when they were kids.”

“We didn’t know they would be so powerful” Josh defended.

“Don’t you remember we all choose to let them live. We wanted a challenge, because we were bored” Ed reminded his friends. “We wanted one final epic fight before we claimed the Earth as ours. Come on remember how disappointed we were that the Earth was so easy to take over. Now we finally have some excitement.”

“One big battle” Justin said. “I like it”.

“But what if one of us dies?” Taylor cried. “You guys are my family and I don’t want to imagine losing any of you.”

“Hey Tay, none of us are going to die. We have had years to practice with our powers. These boys aren’t a team. They are just a bunch of kids. I promise no one will die” Ed promised, kissing Taylor’s hand.

“Maybe we should talk to them” Katy suggested. “What if they joined us. Then we would have an even bigger family. We could help them with their powers. Then they could join us with killing off the remaining humans”.

“Great idea Kitty Kat” Josh agreed, causing Katy to blush.

Katy whispered, “You know I hate it when you use my nickname in public.”

“Are you afraid the general is going to judge you?” Josh asked.

Katy shrugged, her cheeks becoming bright red. Josh picked up Katy by the waist and spun her around. “You are the most amazing girl ever. You shouldn’t care what other people think of you. Especially low life humans without powers.” Katy giggled in response, as Josh spun her around. 

The general felt extremely uncomfortable. “I’ll just wait in the car” he stated.

“Actually you can just leave. We will take care of the issue. Thank you for calling us. You did good today general and we will remember your help” Justin declared, giving the a thumbs up.

The general beamed “Thank you”. Maybe today wasn’t a bad day after all. Getting a compliment from the Fearsome Five was rare. The general smiled happily to himself, while driving back the base. 

Ed looked at his friends, well more like family. They had been together for more than 30 years. With his team Ed felt unstoppable. They supported each other and would die for one another. Ed wouldn’t hesitate to take a bullet for any of his team. He loved Katy, Josh, Justin, and Taylor and he knew they all loved him just as much. The bond between the five of them went deep and it was unbreakable. They could each guess how the other was feeling, just by looking at their face. 

Josh and Katy were madly in love and never seemed to get tired of each other. Ed would think after 30 years the couple would grow bored with each other, but that didn’t seem to be the case with them. Their relationship was perfect and the couple rarely fought. 

Ed on the other hand, had a crush on Taylor and it took him 20 years for him to finally get the nerve to ask her out. Taylor though, beat Ed to the punchline and asked him out first. She grew tired of waiting for Ed to make the first move. They have been dating ever since. Katy and Josh have been together since the beginning and always helped out Ed and Taylor with their relationship problems. Justin was fine sleeping around and never settling down. He wasn’t looking for the one, just someone who could give him a fun night. 

Ed looked over at Taylor and saw a single tear run down her beautiful pale skin. “What’s wrong?” he asked, gently wiping away the fallen tear. 

“I just feel so bad for these soldiers. I can’t imagine how horrible it was turning on your friends. Poor Joe had to kill his own brother. I hope that never happens to us” Taylor confessed.

“It never will” Ed promised. “I would kill myself, before ever harming a hair on your head”. Taylor smiled feeling better. 

Katy and Josh were making out standing over the dead bodies. They were getting a little too touchy and feely. “Really guys? Are you going to have a makeout session in the middle of our dead soldiers?” Ed sassed.

“Yea” Katy smirked. “I mean we are evil, and I do enjoy making out by death and destruction”. 

“I wonder what abilities the boys have?” Josh speculated, stepping away from Katy ending their kissing session. 

Ed thought about it before responding, “When I’m guessing one of them can shape-shift, since Joe saw him turn into a bird.”

“I’m guessing the one who killed everyone on the bridge, can control people’s minds or something like that” Katy added. “And he must be pretty damn powerful to control all these people at once. We will definitely have to watch our backs with him.”

“Can we please plan out how we are going to get the boys to attend a meeting with us?” Taylor asked.

Katy added “And we have to make sure they don’t try and kill us. I’m nervous the mind controller will try and mess with us”.

“Very true” Taylor agreed.

“Well let’s just say I have a plan” Justin said, smiling like a mad man.

“Do you plan on telling us what is it?” Josh asked.

“Yea” Justin replied leaning against a car. The four waited for Justin to speak, but he never did.

Ed sighed, “Can you tell us the plan now?”

“Oh. You wanted me to tell you now” Justin joked. Taylor rolled her eyes, while Katy punched the boy in the shoulder.

“I hate you sometimes” Katy sassed.

“Well let’s just say I have a secret weapon that will be able to lure one of the boys away from the others. We then kidnap the one who wandered away, and the other boys will have no choice, but to have a peaceful meeting with us” Justin explained.

“And who is this secret weapon?” Taylor questioned. Justin walked over to the girl and whispered something in her ears. Taylor smiled evilly “That poor boy. I can’t wait to see the look on his face.” Taylor jumped up and down squealing. “I love being evil for reasons like this. We are just going to ruin the boy’s whole day” Taylor said looking at Justin. “I wish the boys luck, because we are coming for them. ”


	22. Home Sweet Home

The walk back to the campsite was silent. The lads were still freaked out from the past events. Just hours ago the five boys were all separated and getting shot at. They feared if they made any noise more people with guns would appear. None of the boys felt safe.

After Louis tripped for the fifth time, Liam decided to make camp for the night. The road was pitch black, making it hard for the lads to see anything. Niall had run into several cars, while Louis tripped over debris. Liam sensed whenever something was in his path, so he didn’t have a problem with falling over objects. Harry floated off the ground, avoiding the cars and such. Zayn on the other hand was so perfect, he managed to not trip or run into anything. They found a small opening in the woods and began to make camp. During the running from the city, everyone’s bags were dropped or left behind except for Niall’s. “What are we going to sleep on?” Harry yawned. He could barely keep his eyes open. Who knew summoning tornadoes could be so tiring?

“I’ll make an Earth hut around us again” Liam answered, raising the ground protectively around the lads. “Are you guys okay with sleeping together?” Liam questioned. He felt it would be safer if they all stayed together. Last time they separated was a nightmare, that Liam wanted to forget. He was shot, Niall and Louis almost died, and Harry went missing for hours. Liam did not want to repeat past mistakes.

The four boys nodded their heads and began to lay down. Louis made the once rocky ground, soft and comfortable by making grass grow. “I’ll take first watch” Louis offered.

“No you should rest” Liam disagreed. “I think out of the all lads, I have gotten the most sleep in the past couple of hours.”

Harry crawled next to Niall and asked, “Can I sleep next to you?” Harry needed someone to cuddle up with because he was afraid of getting left behind. All the images of Gemma were still fresh in his brain, and he needed someone to help take his mind off of her.

“Sure” Niall said, patting the ground next to him. Harry quickly laid next to Niall and wrapped his arms around the blond’s waist. Niall was too tired to argue or push Harry off, so he let the boy have his way.

Zayn curled up next to Louis and was soon asleep, Louis though stayed up. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” Liam groaned, quietly not wanting to disturb the others.

“Can you open up the roof a little so moonlight can come in?” Louis requested. Liam did as his friend asked and opened up the dome of Earth a little. Light seeped into the small dome. Liam gave Louis a curious look, as the boy unzipped Niall’s backpack.

“What are you doing?” Liam asked, scooting closer to Louis.

Louis replied “I’m going to study the books Niall got me. I will learn to turn into all these animals, so I will never be useless again.”

“You weren’t useless” Liam countered.

“Yes I am” Louis interjected. “While you guys were all fighting, I was a freaking bird. What could I possibly do as a bird, peck the bad guys. The most ruthless animal I can turn into is a tiny cat.”

Liam shook his head. “Hey don’t think that. You can control plants, which is pretty bad ass. Remember when you controlled vines and helped save Niall. I’m sure you can do more amazing stuff, but we just haven’t seen it yet” Liam reassured his friend.

Louis studied Liam’s face, looking to see if the boy was lying. Liam though, looked completely sincere, which surprised Louis. “How about you look at one of the books and only for an hour” Liam compromised. “You are going to need all your strength in the morning.”

“Okay” Louis agreed. He pulled out the first book and began looking at the carnivores. He studied each page taking in every detail of the animal. He needed to know what every part of the animal looked like if he wanted to turn into it or project it.

After an hour, Liam gently nudged Louis and said “Time to sleep. You can look more at the book in the morning”. Louis groaned, but put the book back in the Niall’s bag.

Louis laid down against Zayn’s back feeling a sense of comfort knowing Zayn had his back figuratively and literally. “Thanks Liam” Louis whispered, before closing his eyes. Liam smiled to himself and watched Louis fall asleep.

The night was uneventful and Liam began to grow tired. His eyes started to droop, no matter how hard Liam fought. A cry from one of the lads woke Liam right up.

Liam sat in silence, trying to figure out who cried out. A whimper escaped from Niall’s mouth, and Liam knew he was having a nightmare.

Niall started to thrash around in his sleep. “Niall” Liam whispered, sitting down next to the boy. He gently shook him awake. Blue eyes met brown, when the blond woke up. “You were having a nightmare” Liam explained.

“Oh” Niall hummed.

“What was it about? If I may ask” Liam asked, concern written all over his face.

Niall knew he shouldn’t keep his nightmare hidden. Liam wanted Niall to open up and this was the way to do it. “I was dreaming about what happened on the bridge. Remember how I said I became part of the people when I control them”. Liam nodded his head, not daring to interrupt the blond. “Well I was dreaming about what they were feeling before they died.”

“What were their emotions?” Liam asked, knowing he might be over stepping the boundaries with Niall.

“Fear, remorse, grief, anger. They wanted to know why. Why they were pointing guns at each other? Some tried to plead with God, while others cried” Niall croaked. “I can’t get them out of my head” Niall admitted.

“How can I help?” Liam questioned, feeling sad for his comrade.

Niall answered “Can you stay here until I fall asleep and… You’re just going to laugh never mind.”

“No tell me”

“Can you hold my hand, just until I fall asleep.”

“Sure Niall.”

Liam grasped the blond’s hand and held it tight. Niall didn’t stir for the rest of the night. Liam didn’t move from his spot. He held Niall’s hand the whole night, never leaving the boy’s side.

Liam really didn’t want to wake up the boys. This was probably the only time they can escape their pasts and feel safe. They can hide from reality for those short, precious hours and Liam didn’t want to bring them back to reality. A reality where they have to constantly watch their backs, because if not they will be killed.

Finally after debating himself Liam yelled, “Time to get up lads.”

Harry muttered some curse words and pulled Niall closer to his chest. Niall woke up and released Liam’s hand, shocked the boy held onto it the whole night. “Harry let me go. We have to get up” Niall informed, trying to break from Harry’s hold.

“Shhh I’m asleep” Harry joked, making snoring sounds. Niall rolled his eyes and broke Harry’s hands apart. Harry made a pouty face, before sitting up. 

Louis grabbed the backpack and pulled out the book and started to read it again. Zayn got up last and shot everybody glares. Zayn was not a morning person.

Breakfast consisted of apples from an apple tree that Louis grew. Once breakfast was over, the boys began their journey once again. Liam walked in the front while Zayn took the rear. Both boys were watching for any surprise attacks. Louis was too busy reading to look for any danger, so he stayed in the center.

“What are you reading?” Harry asked, hovering in the air in front of Louis. Harry was a couple feet off of the ground. He was too lazy to walk. Louis quickly showed him the cover of the book, and then brought it back to his face. Harry gave him a confused look.

Louis explained “I’m reading a book about animals. Do you want one to read? It helps the time go by faster.” Louis offered unzipping the bag.

Harry shook his head no. “I can’t read” Harry said sadly.

“What” Louis gasped, putting down the book.

“You must think I’m stupid” Harry remarked.

Louis denied, “No I’m just surprised. I just assumed everyone could read.”

“Oh” Harry responded. “Maybe you could teach me how.”

“Definitely. I promise I will” Louis stated, smiling at his friend.

“Can you teach me too?” Niall asked, shyly from behind both boys.

Louis smiled “Of course Niall. How about I read for you guys now?”

Niall and Harry both nodded their heads excitedly. Louis flipped to the next page and began reading about tigers. The two boys stared at Louis in awe, like he had the most amazing ability.

“Can you read a little louder?” Zayn requested, slightly embarrassed. Zayn was curios to hear what was being read. It was always a dream of Zayn’s to learn how to read. His parents promised to teach him, but the fire changed everything.

“Sure thing” Louis said, raising his voice. The walk went a lot faster as Louis read. When Louis would get to a new animal, he would either attempt to transform into it or would project it. So far Louis could successfully turn into every carnivore he read about it.

Right now, Louis was a grizzly bear and allowing Harry and Niall to ride on his back. “Zayn come up here with us” Harry said, waving the boy over. Zayn finally said yes, and climbed onto Louis’s back.

Liam smiled, watching the boys get along. It was nice not seeing them worry about the Fearsome Five. Right now they were acting like normal teenagers. Louis went up on his hind legs, earning a shriek from both Harry and Niall. Zayn laughed to himself, as he clutched onto the bear’s back. Louis smiled and went back to walking on all fours. If only they had a normal life. “Guys we are getting pretty close to the entrance of the woods. I think it would be easier to travel if Louis wasn’t a bear” Liam explained.

Harry grabbed Niall’s and Zayn’s arm and gently lifted them off of the bear. They hovered in the air for a few seconds, before Harry put them on the ground. “Thanks” Zayn said.

Louis transformed back into his human form. “You were amazing” Harry praised.

“Thanks” Louis muttered, embarrassed by the compliment. Zayn patted his back, making Louis blush.

The boys walked single file in the woods. The trees were thick and dense. Liam seemed to know the way, letting the Earth guide him. “We’re getting close” Liam warned “Be ready in case of a sneak attack.”

“Do you sense other people?” Louis questioned.

“No but something just feels off” Liam answered, signaling for the boys to continue forward.

The clearing for the campground came into view. Louis projected a tiger next to him. The animal growled, sensing the tension from Louis. Zayn pushed himself protectively in front of Harry and Niall.

Liam charged into the campsite and was greeted with nothing. The tiger walked cautiously up to Liam and walked around the whole site. “Everything seems fine” Louis commented, making the tiger disappear.

“Yeah” Harry agreed, “Everything is right where we left it.”

“You would think animals or the wind would move things around. It just seems too perfect” Liam explained, inspecting the area.

“Maybe we should head to the Freedom Fighters headquarters in Florida” Zayn suggested, taking Liam’s words to heart. He didn’t feel safe and secure in the campground. “I mean our mission was to bond and learn how to work together as a team. Something we have already passed, so I say we find Paul and the others.”

Liam exclaimed “Great plan. Let’s leave now.”

“We need to pack up the remaining supplies Liam. Slow down. It’s not like anything is going to happen with all of us around” Harry said, walking over to his supplies. Zayn wanted to disagree, but he bit his tongue. Zayn got the feeling they were being watched. He kept it to himself though, because he didn’t want to freak out the others. Besides what if he was wrong, and got the lads all worked up over nothing.

“Be ready to leave in an hour. We leave whether you are packed or not” Liam ordered, walking over to his stuff.

Niall and Harry finished gathering all their supplies before the others. “Hey since I’m done early, I can fill up everyone’s water bottles” Niall offered.

“That sounds great, but you can’t go alone” Liam replied.

“Don’t worry, I am going with him. I don't trust little Niall on his own” Harry said, pinching one of Niall’s cheeks. The answer was good enough for Liam, because he handed over his water bottle.

Liam called out before they left “Please don’t be long. If you guys aren’t back in 20 minutes, then we will assume the worst and come looking for you.”

“You’re such a downer. Lighten up Liam” Harry yelled, disappearing into the forest.

“How about you go get the water and I’ll get the food” Harry suggested. “And then we will meet up here in like 10 minutes.”

“Should we really split up?”

“Come on Niall, it will be faster and then Liam won’t have to worry.”

“I guess you’re right. I’ll see you in a few.”

Both boys went separate ways. Niall continued to go straight, while Harry went left. The blond felt oddly overjoyed to be back by the water. It seemed like years since he was last here. But it was only a couple days. Niall couldn’t believe how much had changed in those couple of days.

Niall quickly dunked Liam’s and Zayn’s water bottle under the water. He watched little bubbles rise to the surface as the bottle filled. When the bubbles stopped, Niall knew the bottle was full. He took them out and screwed the lids back on.

It felt good having his hands submerged in water. Niall was in his natural habitat, the place where he is the strongest with his power. Niall could make the water do anything. He filled Harry’s and Louis’s waters next. Once they were finished, Niall filled his and got ready to meet up with Harry.

A sudden movement in the corner of his eye made Niall drop the bottles. “Who’s there” the blond asked, getting ready to fight his attacker. “Is that you Harry?”. When Niall got no response he began to worry. “Harry this isn’t funny.”

A figure stepped out of the woods, making Niall gasp and back away. “No no no no” Niall muttered. “Get away from me”.

“Is that how you greet your father?” the man taunted, pretending to be upset by his son.

“How did you find me?” Niall asked, his voice coming out shaky. The man smiled evilly not answering the question and began to work towards the blond in a threatening manner.

Harry leaned against a tree waiting for Niall. “What is taking him so long?” Harry wondered aloud. Harry walked towards the lake and found the 5 water bottles on the ground. Fear took over Harry. “Niall” Harry screamed. “Where are you?”.

Harry ran to the water and looked for Niall. Much to his disappointment, Niall wasn’t in the water. Tears glistened in Harry’s eyes, as he realized that Niall was gone.

“Who you looking for?” a voice asked, from the sky.

Harry looked up and saw a boy with ginger hair. “You’re looking for your friend aren’t you?” the boy mocked.

“What did you do with him?” Harry cried, the wind beginning to pick up around him.

“He’s fine as of the moment. As you can tell I am from the Fearsome Five. We want to have a peaceful meeting and it seemed kidnapping one of your own would ensure that. Tomorrow someone will be sent to take you to the meeting. Once the meeting is over, you can get your little friend back. Don’t keep us waiting. We don’t like waiting and we might take out the boredom on the blond” the man said, evilly flying away.

Harry fell to the grass and punched the ground. This was all his fault. If he hadn't made them separate then Niall wouldn’t have been taken. Harry screamed at the top of his lungs taking out his frustration and anger. The wind speed picked up to 60 miles per hour and it was rising.

“I’m sorry Niall” Harry sobbed, into the sky.


	23. Why Can't We Be Friends?

Harry thought Liam was going to kill him when he told the lads Niall was taken. Instead Liam acted calm kinda like a calm before a storm. “You’re not mad” Harry asked, giving Liam a surprised look.

“Getting mad won’t help us get back Niall” Liam replied quickly, not looking Harry in the eyes. He was turning to hold himself together. He wanted to explode and release all the anger he was holding back. “We will meet up with the Fearsome Five tomorrow” he explained, his chest rising and falling heavily. “Anyone have a problem with that?” Liam growled, daring someone to speak up.

No one did though. They all made a silent agreement to get the blond boy back. “Are we going to use our powers?” Louis questioned proudly, since he could now turn into much cooler and badass animals. He wanted to be useful.

“No” Liam answered angrily, beginning to lose his patience. The lads were acting too stupid for Liam right now. This was not the time for dumb questions. “We have the advantage. The Fearsome Five don’t know what our abilities are. We won’t give them that information, so avoid using your powers at all cost.”

Zayn just wanted to get the meeting over with. The anticipation was killing him. Throughout his whole life, Zayn had stories of the infamous group. Tomorrow would be the first day he gets to meet them. He wondered what they looked like. Were they ugly and old looking? Were they are as evil as everyone made them out to be? Zayn could finally form his own opinion about them.

Liam paced around the camp, imagining all that could go wrong at the meeting. The Fearsome Five could try to fight them. They would have the upper hand and Niall as a hostage. Was Liam leading the lads into a trap? Could they really get Niall back or was this all part of the Fearsome Five’s evil plan? There were too many variables about tomorrow and it was driving Liam crazy.

Louis tried to stay positive, he really did. But all the negative energy and tension finally got to him. The nervousness made Louis turn into a dog. He sat on the ground whimpering, his ears lay flat on his head. Louis’s tail sat in between in his legs.

“This is all my fault”, Harry muttered, smacking himself on the head. “You can’t do anything right.” Harry fell to the ground and cried. He knew the others hated him. Who wouldn’t really? They were in this mess because of Harry. Tomorrow everyone could be dead and the Fearsome Five could easily take over the world. 

“We don’t hate you Harry”, a voice said from behind the crying boy. Harry’s head whipped around and he saw Zayn. Zayn sat down next to Harry and promised, “no one hates you.”

“You all are acting like you do.”

“We all just react to bad news differently. I think the anticipation is what is killing us” Zayn explained gently, trying not to upset Harry. The team needed to be on it’s a game tomorrow if they stood any chance against the evil group.

Harry nodded his head, taking Zayn’s words to heart. “Come back to the campsite. I don’t think any of us should be alone. We don’t know if the Fearsome Five are still here lurking around” Zayn speculated, pulling Harry up from the ground. Zayn didn’t wait for a response and practically dragged Harry back.

Louis greeted Harry in his dog form with a lick on the boy’s hand. Harry gave Louis a curious look and petted him behind the ears. The tail of the dog began to wag. “Be serious guys”, Liam screamed, seeing his teammates petting Louis. “This isn’t a time to bond. Niall was taken and you are here acting like everything's okay.”

Louis whimpered and became human once again. Zayn helped him up, shooting Liam a glare. “You three need to rest up. Tomorrow could be the day we fight the Fearsome Five. I need you to be ready” Liam explained, not giving the boys any choice in the matter.

“We’re going to have to fight?” Louis asked, his voice coming out in hoarse, whisper.

“I don’t know” Liam sighed, “but it is a good possibility. We might need to kill them if they give us the opportunity.”

“But I can’t kill anyone Liam.”

“Either toughen up or face your doom. I can’t sit around and protect you. You can’t afford to be a kid anymore Louis” Liam scolded, his face scrunched up in annoyance. “This is the real world, where we have to kill to survive. So grow the fuck up Louis.”

Louis released his breath, his lip beginning to quiver. “You don’t have to be so mean about it” Harry shot back, finally looking Liam in the eyes.

Liam walked over to Harry and lifted him by the collar of the shirt. “You are the last person who should be telling me what to do” Liam yelled directly into Harry’s face.

Harry hung his head low in shame, not defending himself. “Stop it” Zayn ordered, pushing Liam over. “Arguing won’t help us. Let’s just each go in separate areas of the campsite and cool down” Zayn suggested, not wanting to see his friends fights.

Sighing loudly, Liam walked over to the north side of the campsite. He sat down on the ground, crossing his legs. He folded his hands over his chest and breathed out heavily, trying to calm himself down.

Louis walked over to the south side of the camp, trying to hide the tears streaming down his face. Zayn walked away from Harry and went towards the west. Harry ran after Zayn, but was stopped. “I need to be alone” Zayn pleaded needing to take time to be away from all the drama. “I just need some time to myself.” He wanted to clear his head.

Harry stopped walking, trying to hide his hurt expression.

The four boys sat like that the whole night. None of them spoke to each other. They hardly got any sleep and looked like nervous wrecks in the morning. Liam wouldn't look or talk to Harry and Louis. Louis looked like he would start crying at any moment. Zayn tried his hardest to keep the peace between his friends, but it was nearly impossible. They were all ticking time bombs, waiting to explode on each other.

At the crack of dawn, the four boys heard cars pull up to the entrance of the woods. The cracking and snapping of sticks made the lads more alert, as the strangers approached. They were being summoned for the meeting to get Niall back.

In the center of the campground walked a woman and a man. The man stood over 6 feet tall and was all muscle. He wore a black suit and black sunglasses. The woman on the other hand had on a yellow flower dress and red high heels. Her red lipstick stuck out on her face, making her seem friendly. The girl smiled fakely at the boys. “I sense a little tension” the woman commented, seeing Liam shooting glares at Harry. “Why so tense boys?” she mocked, giving the lads a condescending grin.

“You know damn well why” Liam growled “now take us to our friend.”

“Fine” she huffed, looking over at the man. “You guys are so cut to the chase. What’s the rush?” Liam clenched his fists willing himself to not attack. The woman took that as her cue that the welcome was over. “We will take you to see our bosses” she confirmed. She began to skip out of the woods. “Follow me” she sang.

The man remained where the boys stood. His face was expressionless. “Follow” he ordered, speaking for the first time. Liam turned and followed the crazy girl. The other three followed suit, leaving the creepy man behind.

4 cars were waiting for the lads at the edge of the forest. “One of you get in each of the car” she said, indicating to the vehicles.

Harry looked over at Louis. “Where do you want to sit?” he asked.

“Next to you” Louis answered, his voice shaking with fear. Harry quickly led Louis to the third car and attempted to climb in.

A hand shot out and grabbed Harry’s shoulder. It was the man from the campsite. “Only one of you can get in the car” he grumbled, pulling Harry to the fourth car.

“Harry” Louis called out, trying to break from the other man’s grasp. The man, though easily took on Louis and threw him into the car.

“Why can’t we ride together?” Harry questioned, he debated on whether or not to use his powers to get to Louis. Then Harry remembered Liam’s request of keeping their powers a secret. 

The man never replied to Harry’s question, he simply flung the boy into the car and slammed the door shut. The mysterious woman climbed into the first car, while the man got into the front seat of the car Harry was in. 

Harry opened his mouth to ask a question, but was quickly stopped. “No talking” the man corrected, his eyes never leaving the front mirror. Harry groaned loudly, but closed his mouth. 

The car ride was long and tedious. Harry grew bored after 5 minutes of driving. He had no one to annoy and talk too.

Louis was shaking uncontrollably in the car. The constant clattering of his teeth drove the driver insane. “If you don’t stop shaking, I will pull over this car and knock you out cold”, the driver threatened through gritted teeth. Louis bit his tongue to stop his teeth.

Liam mediated in the car trying to muster up as much power as he could. He didn’t know how this day was going to go. He knew there was no way in hell the Fearsome Five would give up Niall peacefully. He didn’t want to imagine the horrors they did to Niall for the night they had him.

This was too similar to what had happened to Liam’s mom. Liam didn’t know what he would do if he found Niall beat up and dead like when he found his mother. He promised to protect his friends, but he failed. Now history was repeating itself.

The whole car ride Zayn was trying to control his powers. If he didn't, the car would either be filled with smoke or on fire. The driver gave Zayn weird looks, as the boy continued to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

“How much longer?” Liam asked the woman in the front seat.

She turned around and gave Liam another one of her fake smiles. “Not much longer sweetie” she replied darkly. “Today is going to be fun” the woman cheered, turning away from Liam. She hummed a happy tune and began to ignore Liam’s presence again.

The cars pulled up to a lone building a little off the highway. It was surrounded by other black SUVS and soldiers with weapons.

When the cars stopped the boys all hopped out. The lads found each other and braced themselves for what came next. The woman skipped over to the four boys giggled evilly, “go to the top floor. They are waiting for you.” The soldiers surrounding the building gave the lads dark glances. They whispered among themselves placing bets on their deaths.

The lads headed to the stairs and climbed to the top. Liam knew they couldn’t face the Fearsome Five until they made up from yesterday. “I just want you guys to know I love you like brothers and if we die at least it is together. You guys are my family and I could never hate you” Liam confessed, halfway up the stairs. “I’m sorry for yelling at you guys. I was just scared and mad at myself mainly.”

“Why were you mad at yourself? You did nothing wrong” Zayn questioned, curiosity getting the best of him.

Liam looked up and saw they still had many more stairs to climb. “I guess I’ll tell you my story now. I mean we do have some time to kill” Liam sighed. This could be the last thing he ever tells the boys. “My parents and I traveled from town to town never staying in the same area for more than a week. We never knew when the next attack was. My dad would always scope out the area first and make sure it was safe for my mom and I.”

Liam continued, “then one night he never came back. My mom and I went into a full panic. We didn’t know what to do. Finally my mom and I decided to go look for him. We found my head strung up dead on a highway sign. Then Josh came down and took my mom.”

“I was weak and couldn’t protect her. She gave herself up to Josh to protect me. The next day he returned my mother to me. She was dead and she suffered a horrible death. My mom was tortured and it was all my fault. I couldn't protect her. I was helpless and now it is happening again with Niall” Liam revealed sadly, wiping away a fallen tear.

“It’s not your fault” Louis said speaking up. “None of this is your fault. This is the Fearsome Five’s fault. All of it is. We wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for them. They messed up the world not us.”

Liam nodded his head not saying anything back. They had reached the top floor. The door was cracked open and the boys heard voices coming from inside.

This was it. They were finally going to meet the people responsible for the end of the world. The people they are destined to fight. The people they are supposed to kill.

“You ready?” Liam asked, looking around to each of his friends.

“As ready as we will ever be” Zayn answered.

“Let’s get Niall back” Harry added, pushing open the door. The lads put on a brave face, even though they were terrified and entered the room.

All the heads in the room turned toward the door. “Welcome” Taylor greeted, walking over to the four boys. “I hope our people were friendly.”

“Where’s Niall?” Louis interjected, completely ignoring Taylor. Niall was nowhere to be seen in the room. Taylor’s smile faltered for a second, but she quickly composed herself.

“He’s fine” Ed promised squeezing Taylor’s hand “all we want to do is talk.”

“If we bring him out, will you promise to have a civilized conversation with us?” Katy said, trying to come up with a compromise and keep the peace. Liam took a threatening step forward as if to show his strength. Josh pushed Katy behind him trying to be a protective husband. He didn’t want any of the lads to hurt his love.

Liam growled when he saw Josh, the man who took his mother away. Liam wondered if Josh even remembered him. The tension in the room was building up and soon there would be a full on fight. “Justin go get Niall” Ed ordered, pulling out four chairs. The only way to calm the lads was to give them what they wanted. “Please have a seat.” The lads hesitantly sat down around a conference table. On one side was the Fearsome Five and on the other side was the boys. 

Justin teleported out of the room in a flash. A couple seconds later, he popped back into the room with Niall.

Niall appeared physically fine, but emotionally he was a wreck. Liam knew Niall’s injuries healed almost instantly so he will never know if the Fearsome Five hurt the blond. Justin pushed Niall towards the lads.

Harry jumped up from his seat, wrapping his arms around Niall. “Did they hurt you” Harry questioned taking in every inch of Niall’s appearance.

“They didn’t hurt me” Niall promised, taking the open seat between Harry and Liam. Niall kept glancing towards the door almost as if he was scared of someone out there.

Now that the boys were reunited the Fearsome Five had their full attention. “What do you want?” Liam asked curtly. He was trying to figure out the villains plan.

“We just want to talk” Katy said sweetly.

“About what” Harry groaned, keeping his eyes on the five people on the other side of the table. If any of them did anything threatening, Harry wanted to be ready to attack.

Taylor gave a big smile. “We want to be friends with you lads.”

“What” Louis shrieked. “You think we would want to be friends with you after everything you did.”

“Yea, you destroyed the world” Zayn added, not wanting Louis to be the only one to speak out.

Ed didn’t miss a beat and quickly explained “we had our reasons for hating the world and wanting it destroyed.” Ed looked at the lads and saw they were all interested in hearing what he had to say. “I will tell our tale, but you must promise to not say anything until the end. You must hear the whole story.”

When Ed didn’t get a reply he began his tale. Grabbing Taylor’s hand for reassurance, he told “we were created in a lab many years ago. The five of us were part of a science experiment to make super soldiers. The government forced our parents to be subjected to injections on a daily basis. With toxins running through their veins, they made our parents have sex. Once the women got pregnant, the men were killed.”

Ed began to get choked up, describing the treatment his parents received. Taylor consoled her boyfriend, whispering soothing words to him. Josh continued on with the story since Ed could no longer talk “our mothers died while giving birth to us. We grew up together, trapped in cages being observed 24/7. The scientists treated us like animals. It was like we weren’t even human just another experiment. We only had each other. The government would experiment on us not caring if it caused us pain. They kept putting more and more chemicals in our bodies to make us stronger. Our bodies stopped aging and we grew more powerful. Overtime we discovered our powers. They locked us in special cages where our powers wouldn’t work. Katy and Taylor managed to keep some of their abilities a secret though. The government just assumed since they were girls they were weak. But they were strong.”

“One night Justin heard the officials talk about how we were a failed experiment. They were going to terminate us and for what. They claimed it was because we disobeyed orders. But really it was because we were growing stronger and they could no longer control us. We became a liability. The scientist had a new batch of chemicals ready to be injected in more unknowing parents” Josh described from his memory.

“So we decided to break out” Katy remarked, taking over from Josh. This was her favorite part of the story since it involved her. “The scientists had no idea about my acid breath. That night I broke us all out of the cages. First I got out of mine, then I went to Taylor’s enclosement. Taylor kept her singing ability a secret. After telling us to cover our ears, Taylor sang at a high enough frequency that made all the scientists head explode. It was awesome just watching their heads blow up. Probably one of the best moments in my life. Anyway we had to stop the government from giving our curse to someone else. Sadly it looks like we failed” Katy sighed, looking at the 5 boys.

“We did fail” Taylor fretted. “They injected your mothers without them even knowing it. Sick isn’t it. The batch they made was so powerful that your mom only needed to be injected once for it to work. It would have failed, though if your parents decided to not have” Taylor giggle innocently.

“Why destroy the world?” Louis questioned. “You guys broke out. You could have lived a peaceful life.”

The Fearsome Five laughed darkly. “A peaceful life, you say. Do you think it would be peaceful to have all the world leaders trying to chase you down and kill you” Justin mocked, his tone slightly annoyed. “You do realize a majority of the countries around the world funded the project that turned us into freaks. Peace wasn’t an option, so we went with revenge. We had years of saved up rage just waiting to be released.”

“First we only planned to take out the world leaders and people who did wrong to us, but then we grew bored, so we took over the rest of the world. As you can see we succeeded. We want to be friends with you. No more blood needs to be spilled because of the stupid government experiment. You guys can rule the world with us” Justin offered, the cocky smile leaving his face been replaced with a genuine look. “You’re just like us. People like us need to stick together.”

“How could I ever side with monsters like you?” Liam shouted, standing up from the table. “You are the people responsible for my parents death.”

“Sorry” Katy apologized, not really meaning it “but we can’t really change the past. I suggest you move on so we can start a healthy friendship. I promise we will make it up to you.”

“I’ll never be a on a team with you or help you rule the world” Zayn spat. “You guys are monsters.”

“I’d watch your mouth” Ed warned, the once pleasant atmosphere was now filled with tension. “The next words you say will dictate your future. You can either join us or die. We don’t want to hurt you, but right now you are making it very hard.”

“We will accept any of you” Taylor added, hoping to recruit some of the boys. “We already have new team names picked out for when you join. We could be the Sinister Six or Seven, Evil Eight, Narcissistic Nine, or Terrible Ten.” Ed smiled proudly at Taylor, knowing how long and hard she worked to come up with those names.

Liam looked towards the lads trying to figure out how they were feeling. “Can we have a moment?” Liam requested.

“Yes” Katy answered, getting up from her chair. The others followed her out of the room.

Once the door was closed Liam swore, “I will never join them.”

“Me either” Zayn agreed.

“Same” Harry added, through gritted teeth.

“I could never join them” Niall said. “And I would never leave you guys. Besides I just really want to get out of here.”

“Then I guess it’s settled. None of us will join the Fearsome Five” Louis remarked, “I wonder how they will take the news.”

“Pretty well actually” Justin commented from across the room. He must have teleported back into the room when the lads weren’t looking “Did you really think we would let you have time to yourself and not spy on your conversation? You guys are too innocent and naive.”

Justin whistled loudly, signaling for the others to come back in. “You were right Josh, they said no” Justin said to his friend.

“I knew they were too stupid to accept our offer” Josh laughed.

Liam put his arms out protectively, getting himself ready to fight. “Calm down” Katy pleaded “as we said no fighting today. Today has been just a meeting, the real battle will begin soon.”

“Why don’t you seem upset by us not joining your team?” Niall questioned, speaking up for the first time to the Fearsome Five.

“Omg it speaks” Ed mocked, getting a laugh from Taylor. “We were growing bored. No one has ever stood a chance against us during a fight. We know about the stupid Freedom Fighters. They aren’t a challenge or threat to us. One final showdown before we kill off the remaining resistance will be a satisfying end to the takeover of Earth.”

“You’re sick” Louis remarked “Earth isn’t some toy.”

Ed rolled his eyes and leaned his head against Taylor’s shoulder. “Before you go we need to get you lads inspired to fight us. You need to have a fire in your heart. That way the fight will be much more interesting and challenging” Taylor hummed, petting Ed’s hair.

“We have a gift for each of you” Josh stated, snapping his fingers. “ Niall already got his present last night, but we have one more thing for you.” Josh turned to the lads “I would like to introduce you to one of our most respected generals. Put your hands together for Niall’s father, Bobby Horan.”

Niall’s dad walked into the room grinning evilly at his son. “Did you have fun last night during our father and son bonding time?” Bobby taunted making Niall curl into Liam’s chest. Zayn was tempted to jump across the table and strangle the man to death. Anyone who threatens or hurts Niall deserves to die.

“Son, I just want you to know one thing” Bobby declared. “All those years ago you did cure your mother and brother. You saved them from that horrible disease.”

“What?” Niall croaked, pushing himself off of Liam. “Then how did they die?”

Bobby smiled and pointed to himself. “I poisoned them” he confessed. “I poisoned you too, but sadly it didn’t work.”

“Why would you do that” Niall questioned, trying to keep himself from crying.

“Because I’m evil, son” Bobby answered as if it was obvious.

Josh seemed satisfied and ordered “Bobby you may wait outside now.” Bobby saluted the group and marched out of the room.

Liam whispered to Niall “I’m so sorry.” Niall shook his head, letting Liam know to let the topic go. He wasn’t ready to face the news that his father was responsible for Maura and Greg’s death.

“Zayn now it’s your turn” Katy provoked. “Minister fire boy over here burned down his whole village.” Zayn gasped, how did they know he could control fire. “One mistake cost you your whole family, but did you know it wasn’t your fault. Sure, you started the fire, but you put it out. Just how easy you start fires you can put them out. I’m actually surprised you haven’t figured that out. I started a new one fire after you put the original one out. Then I melted everyone’s feet to the ground with my acid breath, so they couldn’t run from the flames. So really I killed your family and village” Katy confessed, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Zayn’s body erupted in flames. “You bitch” he screamed angrily, his vision becoming red with rage. “I’m going to kill you” Zayn threatened, well more like promised. Zayn stood up from the table and got ready to throw a fireball at Katy. Josh also got up watching Zayn like a hawk.

“Remember no fighting” Josh reminded, his eyes never leaving Zayn.

“Zayn please calm down. This isn’t the time or place for revenge” Liam pleaded, his heart breaking for his friend. If they started to fight now there was no way the lads could win.

Liam’s words seemed to get Josh’s attention.

Josh looked Liam directly in the eyes. “I remember you from many years ago” he said, smirking darkly. “I remember when I took your mother away. Do you want to know how she spent her final evening?”

Josh didn’t wait for a reply and continued, “first I stripped her of her clothes. Justin had a little fun with her first, making sure to be rough as possible. Justin didn’t just rape her once, but several times. Then Katy spent a little time with her making her live her worst fears. Katy put your mom in a nightmare realm. She screamed the whole time while Katy had her. I had my fun with torturing her. And let me tell you something, she was fun to hurt. Everytime we would do something new to her, she would beg us to stop.”

“I crushed every single one of her fingers. I made sure to do it slowly, to make sure she felt more pain. She cried your name and begged for you to come save her. Where were you Liam? I even made the offer of letting you and your mom switch places. And guess what, your mom said yes. She would have much rather had you get tortured than her. I then proceeded to pull out your mom’s beautiful eyes, so she couldn’t see what we would do next. Katy burned her back, making all the skin melt off. Your mom gave us a magical evening and I would like to thank you for that. Thank you Liam for not even putting up a fight when I took your mother away” Josh recalled, smiling as he remembered the memory.

Liam wanted to scream. He wanted to murder Josh right then and there. He needed to knock that stupid smirk off of his face. He couldn’t cry. He refused to let The Fearsome Five to see him vulnerable. Josh watched Liam intently, waiting for Liam to react.

“Harry” Taylor hummed “it’s your turn.”

“Please don’t” Harry begged, not wanting to have his world come crashing down around him. Louis gave Harry a sympathetic look and squeezed his hand.

Taylor smiled cruelly and laughed. “Harry the boy who grew up with scavengers. Did you know Gemma the girl who practically raised you murdered your parents?”

“Shut up” Harry screamed, covering his ears. He couldn’t control his tears.

“She showed no mercy when she stabbed your mother” Taylor described darkly. “And yet you still loved her. You lived with the person, who was responsible for the death of your parents.”

Harry defended through the tears, “I didn’t know.”

“Just stop” Louis begged, hating to see Harry upset.

“Shut up Louis” Ed growled, “you’re turn is next.”

Taylor continued, “did you know your precious Gemma worked for us? When you went on missions with her you were killing innocent people Harry. My little airbender you helped us a lot. Without you Harry we wouldn’t have been able to take over so many cities in England. So thank you for the help. Remember the town you were just at, all those bodies on the highway. Harry you did that to other cities. You were Gemma’s little monster.”

“No Gemma wouldn’t do that” Harry argued, his face filled with sadness and betrayal.

“I don’t think you knew Gemma as well as you thought” Taylor commented, without any pity in her voice. She enjoyed crushing Harry’s spirit. It filled her with a satisfying feeling. If the lads don’t want to be her friend, then Taylor will destroy them.

“Enough” Liam yelled, standing up snapping out of his self pity. He needed to get the lads out of there before the villains said anything else. They had already broke him, Zayn, Niall, and Harry. He didn’t need the Fearsome Five hurting Louis next. “We are done listening to you.”

“You can’t leave yet” Katy whined dramatically “weren't done giving your presents.”

“We’re leaving now” Liam shot back “we don’t need anymore of your sick gifts.”

Katy frowned and nodded at Justin. Before Liam could do anything, Justin teleported next to Louis and put a knife against his throat. “Now as Katy was saying we still have one final gift to give” Justin taunted, pressing the knife into the boy’s neck, drawing blood. Louis whimpered against the cold blade. He tried putting on a brave face, but he failed.

“Let him go” Niall pleaded, his voice sounded so small and innocent.

“We will once we are done” Ed promised, walking towards the door. Ed turned to Justin and reminded, “Justin we said we wouldn’t hurt the boys.”

Justin sighed, pulling the knife away from Louis’s neck. “Sit down and wait till we tell you to leave” Justin barked, teleporting back to his seat. “If you don’t listen, then I will break my promise” Justin stated, throwing the knife between his hands.

Louis’s neck was bleeding from the small cut. Niall quickly healed it, but it didn’t matter. Niall wouldn’t be able to heal the emotional pain Louis was about to receive. Liam tried to console Louis, but nothing worked. Louis was freaked out and blocked the boys out. Zayn sat in his own world not contributing to anything, it was like he was in a trance. Harry was a sobbing mess on the table.

The opening of the door made Louis jump in his seat. This was it. The Fearsome Five was going to make Louis’s world come crashing down around him. Ed walked into the room, pushing a cart with a cloth hiding two items. “Louis please come over here” Ed requested, his voice though made Louis realize he didn’t have a choice.

Louis slowly walked over to Ed, his heartbeat quickening with each step. Katy leaned against Josh and laughed into his chest. “When was the last time you talked to your parents?” Ed asked, but he didn’t really care to know the answer.

“I don’t know” Louis muttered, fear evident in his voice. Louis reached Ed and was lead to the cart. Ed signaled for him to lift the cloth.

Louis turned to face the boys, seeing each of them giving sad glances. Taking a deep breath, Louis pulled the cloth off of the cart. “NOOO” Louis cried, falling to the ground beginning to sob. “How could you?” he wept, trying to wipe the tears away.

On the cart sat the heads of Louis’s mom and dad. Their heads were blue and the eyes lay open. The mouths were open, almost like they were screaming. “Your parents death was slow and painful” Ed retold, picking up the woman’s head.

He held Johannah’s head in front of Louis, so he could really get a good look. “I tortured them myself. At first they wouldn’t tell me what your power was, but after an hour they told me everything. They practically sang to me. They wanted the pain to end, but I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. Do you want to see the bodies Louis? Do you want to see what they went through because of you?” Ed questioned, shoving the head of the woman right against Louis’s face. “Say hi to mommy” he mocked.

Louis screamed and pushed the severed head away.

“Well this was fun” Josh congratulated, clapping his hands together. “You lads are free to go. Thank you for making this meeting so special.” 

Justin smiled “and if you think we don’t know what your other abilities then you are wrong. Liam you’re an earthbender, while Niall here controls the water. Louis can control plants and turn into animals.”

“How do you know?” Liam questioned, knowing they lost the upper hand. Now they didn’t stand a chance against the evil group.

“We have spies everywhere Liam” Justin confessed. “You were trained by one who was more than happy to share everything about you.”

“Roberts” Liam gasped feeling betrayed. How could he? After everything they had been through..

“Let us know a time and place for our final battle” Taylor reminded her voice coming out menacing “make sure we don’t wait long or else we will attack without warning.” She knew the boys were broken and would be easily defeated.

“Hey Ed throw me the head” Justin yelled, putting his hands up. Ed proceed to kick Louis’s mom over to Justin. They began a soccer game, using the severed head as a ball.

Louis threw up watching, the villains kick around his mom. “Ewww” Katy shrieked, jumping up into Josh’s arms.

The boy was too busy sobbing to notice Liam come up behind him. Liam gently picked up Louis and carried him out of the building. Niall helped guide Harry down the stairs, while Zayn walked alone, refusing to talk to anyone. “I’ll see you later son” Bobby yelled from the top of the stairwell. “Don’t forget our little talk” he taunted, winking at Niall.

The soldiers mocked the lads, as they left the building and walked down the street. They had food, drinks, and trash thrown at them. “You’re going to die” they yelled to the broken boys. “The Fearsome Five are going to kill you and your stupid resistance and then take over the world.”

Louis sobbed into Liam’s chest not being able to get his dead parents out of his head. Liam looked over and saw Harry, who couldn’t even walk because he was crying. Niall looked like he could break at any moment and Zayn was off in his own world. The lads were doing so well. They were finally working together and looked past their differences. They actually had a chance of defeating the evil group.

Now they were all broken and Liam didn’t know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry about not posting for a while. I have been super busy. I just started college and I joined marching band. My life is kinda crazy right now. I will try to do better for updating. Sorry again.


	24. The Traitor

The boys wandered mindlessly for what seemed like years. No had said since the meeting. What could they say? Each lad was affected differently by the Fearsome Five. Liam really just wanted to go underground and disappear, but he couldn’t. He had to stay strong for the others. They needed a shoulder to lean on. 

After walking around with no clear direction, Liam knew he needed to give an order.“We need to find Simon” Liam said, looking over at the lads. He waited for someone to respond, to give a different idea. No one did though. 

Liam knew the base Simon was staying at the base in Florida. The Freedom Fighters needed to be warned about Roberts, before anything bad happened. If Louis could turn into a fast animal like a bird or cheetah, he could warn the group, but Liam knew Louis was too unstable to do such a task. It would be a lot easier though. Louis could travel ahead of the lads and warn Simon. Then by the time the rest of them got to camp, Roberts would be taken care of and Liam wouldn’t have to face his old mentor. Liam was dreading coming face to face with Roberts.

How could Liam not realize Roberts was working for the Fearsome Five? How could he be that stupid? The sun began to set in the distance, Liam knew they needed to make camp soon. “Guys we should stop here for the night” Liam suggested, pointing towards a small opening in the woods. 

“No” Zayn growled, finally speaking up “we will keep going all through the night. Roberts could be leading an attack against the Freedom Fighters right now” Zayn yelled, veins popping out of his neck. “I want to get to the stupid base so we can go our separate ways. The sooner we get to Florida the better.” 

“Zayn look around” Liam argued “the boys are too exhausted to do anything.”

“No, we need to get to Florida” Niall squeaked, breaking his embrace with Harry. “What if he hurts Paul?”

“And how do you suggest we get to the base in a timely manner?” Liam asked, his tone angry and frustrated.

Niall shrugged, his lip beginning to tremble. “I can try to fly us there” Harry said, his voice coming out in a hoarse whisper from all the crying. 

Liam shook his head, “you can’t even go one minute without crying, Harry and besides you are too exhausted to carry all four of us.”

“I can do it” Harry screamed, making the birds in the nearby trees fly away. Louis jumped at the loud noise and cowered behind Niall. “Let me do this” Harry begged, his once angry face washed away, replaced with a sad, vulnerable boy who just wanted to prove himself. 

“Fine” Liam agreed, running his hand through his hair, which was full of knots and grease. Liam knew Harry wouldn’t be able to hold each boy individually for a long period of time. In order to help the airbender, Liam made all the lads stand on an Earth platform that Harry made levitate in the air, by having strong winds blow underneath it. 

Louis flew next to the lads in bird form, to keep the earth platform from getting too heavy. Every once in a while, Harry would take a break and land the platform on the ground. Liam would take over and move the earth around at high speeds until Harry’s break was over. Then Harry would take back over, making the journey to Florida go by a lot quicker.

Harry was happy to have his mind off of what the Fearsome Five did. Holding the piece of earth with the boys on it, required his full concentration. During those sweet moments of flying in the sky, Harry didn’t have to think about his past mistakes. He could forget about Gemma in those precious seconds. 

If the boys continued to move as fast as they were, they would reach Florida in 2 days. Not much was said during the journey. None of the lads knew what to say to each other. They were each hurting and dealing with their pain in different ways.

Zayn’s way of handling his emotional pain was sulking in the corner, growling at anyone who came near him. He shut himself down from the world and put up a mean front. The sweet, caring side of Zayn was gone, replaced with someone with a bad attitude and little patience. 

Louis hadn’t stopped crying, since he saw the heads of his parents. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape the lifeless eyes of his mom and dad. Louis thought he would have run out of tears by now. Apparently he was wrong. Louis’s whole world was crashing down around him. The world used to seem so bright to the boy. He used to be full of innocence and naivety. Louis had now woken up to the real world, which was cruel. He now knew what losing a loved one felt like. Louis just wanted to go back in time to when life was simpler.

Niall couldn’t stop rubbing his wrists. He tried to mask his pain. The pain wasn’t physical because all the injuries had healed up, but Niall still felt the blade. His thoughts were filled with the fresh memories of his father torturing him. He could still see the knife press down onto his skin. He could still feel the warm blood oozing down his arm, as he begged his father to stop. Bobby made sure to spend a long time with Niall that night. He needed to make up for the years he wasn’t there to abuse his child. Bobby had to make up for lost time with his son. 

“We’re getting close” Harry informed the others, as he read a sign stating welcome to Florida. Liam breathed out in relief. He needed time to clear his head and think. He needed to come up with a new plan to defeat the Fearsome Five. But mostly Liam needed time to take out his anger for what the evil group did to his mother and friends. 

The base came into view shortly after, the lads arrived in the sunny state of Florida. “Where should I land us” Harry asked, his face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to keep the piece of Earth in the air. Harry was exhausted and knew he wouldn’t last a lot longer. 

“Next to Simon’s tent” Liam answered, patting Harry on the shoulder. “You did great” he congratulated, giving Harry a small smile. Harry was too tired to take Liam’s words to heart. 

The landing was a little bumpy, making Niall and Zayn fly off the platform. Zayn landed hard on his bum and began to scream curses at Harry. The curly haired boy was too tired to care and passed out on the ground. Niall quietly brushed himself off, knowing this pain was nothing compared to what his father had given him. 

All the commotion brought soldiers from around the camp to surround the lads. Many were surprised to see the boys were still alive. Liam ignored the stares and ordered “my friend here needs medical attention.” He pointed to Harry and waited for someone to come retrieve him.

Harry was taken to the medical center and given a nice comfy bed to sleep on. Louis where the nurses took Harry. The boy really wanted a good night's sleep. Maybe his dreams would be better than the reality he was living. Once Harry was taken care of Liam walked straight into Simon’s tent. 

Zayn stormed off, pushing anyone who got in his way. He needed to get away from everyone. Zayn wanted to be alone.

Niall silently crept away and searched for the nearest water source. The water was the only place the blond felt content and safe.

Liam barged into Simon’s tent to find the man sitting in a chair reading a book. The sudden noise made Simon glance up. He nearly dropped the book when he saw it was Liam. “What are you doing back here? You were supposed to bond with the others and practice using your powers” Simon scolded, getting up from the chair. “You lads have only been gone for a couple weeks. Why the hell are you back?”

“It’s a long story” Liam groaned, knowing he was wasting time. “Simon I have something very important to tell you and I need you to listen to me.” Simon nodded his head waiting for Liam to continue. Liam took a deep breath, “Roberts is working for the Fearsome Five. He has been spying on you for years and reporting everything back to the Fearsome Five.”

“That prick” Simon seethed, forming a fist with his hands. “Wait till I get my hands on him” Simon threatened, his eyes becoming filled with rage.

“Where is he?” Liam asked, wanting to get this over with. He justed wanted Roberts gone so he would never have to see the man again. Whenever Liam thought about Roberts, he was filled with sadness and betrayal. 

Simon stopped for a second and gasped, “he is with Paul on patrol.” 

When the words left Simon’s mouth, he booked it out of the tent. He needed to get to his friend before Roberts hurt him. “Simon wait” Liam called out, chasing after the leader. They needed to form a plan, not run straight to the enemy.

“I need to save Paul” Simon answered “I can’t let anything bad happen to him.” Simon’s face was full of fear and panic. That is when Liam realized how much Simon cared about Paul. They have been best friends their whole life and now Simon could lose Paul. 

As Simon ran out of the tent, he ordered his soldiers to follow him. By the time they got to Paul and Roberts, half the camp was surrounding the two men. They awaited Simon’s orders to tell them what to do next. Paul gave his friend a confused look, until he felt a gun go against his temple. 

Paul whimpered against the gun and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see Simon’s face. He knew it would be full of sadness and guilt. “Let him go” Simon begged, his voice beginning to tremble. Roberts gave a curt laugh and shook his head no. “Take me instead” the leader pleaded, not wanting to watch his best friend die.

Liam had now arrived at the scene and was surprised at what he was seeing. “Please stop Roberts” Liam yelled, getting the man’s attention. “You don’t need to do this.” 

Roberts smiled at Liam and greeted, “Hello Liam I didn’t know you were back.” The man’s face light up when he figured out how Simon found out he was a spy. “Liam were you the one who told Simon I was a spy?” The look on Liam’s face was the answer the man needed. “How did the meeting with the Fearsome Five go” the man questioned, pressing the gun harder on Paul’s skull. 

“How could you betray us for the Fearsome Five?” Liam screamed, his eyes beginning to water up. Roberts was a father figure to Liam and seeing Roberts be so cruel was breaking his heart.

“Easily” Roberts scoffed, “I wanted to be on the winning side.”

“How long have you been working for them?” Simon questioned.

Roberts laughed, “since the very beginning.” The smile left his face when he looked back at Liam. “You can still join us” he offered, not wanting to lose the boy. “Liam you don’t have to die. It can be me and you again, just like old times. What do you say?”

“I hate you” Liam yelled, the tears now streaming down his face. “I hate you Roberts and I hope you die.”

“I see” Roberts sighed, cocking the gun back. Simon saw the man’s actions, and begged once again for his friend to be released. “We both know even if I let Paul go, I won’t be getting out of here alive” Roberts informed. “If I’m going to die, why not bring someone down with me.”

“Nooo” Simon cried, running towards both men. Paul gave his friend one last glance, sending Simon a sad smile. Even if Simon ran as fast as he could, he would never reach his friend in time. 

Roberts put his finger on the trigger, as he felt guns from all the soldiers being trained on him. “You’ll never defeat the Fearsome Five” he promised.

Liam couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. Taking a deep breath, he brought a piece of earth up behind Roberts making the end razor sharp. With a thrust, Liam made the pointy earth impale Roberts through the heart. Roberts dropped the gun from his hand, and began to cough up blood. The man leaned back into the piece of Earth because he was too weak to support himself. Looking over at Liam he declared, “all your friends are going to die.” The man gave one final cough, before he closed his eyes and never opened them again. 

Paul fell to his knees in a state of shock. Simon ran over to his friend and wrapped his hands around him. “I’m so sorry” Simon cried, bringing Paul in for a hug. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything. This is all my fault, I should have known Roberts was working for the Fearsome Five.”

Shaking his head, Paul put his hands on Simon’s shoulder. “This wasn’t your fault” he told his friend. “You couldn’t have known about Roberts. Please don’t blame yourself. I am alive and that is all that should matter.”

“I thought I was going to lose you” Simon whispered, letting his tough guy face go away.

“I’m not going anywhere. You really think you can get rid of me that easily” Paul joked, pushing his friend slightly. Simon smiled, and pulled his friend in for another hug.

Liam walked over to Roberts and stared at his dead body. “How could you?” he screamed, at the dead man. “We were supposed to be a team.”

Simon went over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you” he said.

“Don’t thank me yet. All I did was prolong his life by a couple days. The Fearsome Five are going to destroy us all. So yea, I didn’t really save him because he is still going to die” Liam explained, his eyes never leaving the dead body. 

“Hey but you did save Paul. You gave me a couple extra days to spend with him. Now instead of being murdered in cold blood in front of me, he can die taking a stand” Simon explained trying to give Liam some comfort. “We can still defeat the Fearsome Five, or at least die trying” Simon proposed. “We will give that group one final stand. One they will never forget. If we die at least we'll die together as a family” Liam nodded his head, clearly liking the idea. “Where are the others?” Simon questioned, finally realizing Liam is all alone.

Liam shrugged, “we all went separate ways when we arrived here. I know Harry is in medical bay resting and that is all.” 

“Well let’s find the others, then” Simon suggested, leading Liam over to Paul. Liam went to find Louis, while Simon searched for Zayn. Paul already knew where Niall would go and went to the closest water source. 

Paul found Niall right away by the ocean. The blond sat on the shore, allowing the water to splash his feet. “Hey Niall” Paul greeted, sitting down next to the boy. Niall kept looking forward, not even acknowledging the man. “How you doing buddy?”

“Horrible” Niall admitted, hugging his knees against his chest. “My father is working for the Fearsome Five, and I had to spend a whole night with him.” Paul’s breath got caught in his throat. He knew what horrors Bobby put Niall through. 

“I’m so sorry Niall” Paul apologized, knowing nothing he can say or do will make the blond feel better. 

“Yea it’s not like you can change what happened. I just wish there was a way for me to forget what happened” Niall sighed his feet getting soaked with the water. 

The two sat in silence for a while. Paul didn’t want to ask Niall about the night he spent with his father and Niall clearly wasn’t ready to open up about it. “I’m so scared Paul” Niall whispered, breaking the silence as another wave crashed on the shore. 

“Why?”

“The Fearsome Five are coming to finish us off. I’m afraid I won’t be strong enough. Over these past couple of weeks, I have grown close to the other lads and I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. They have become brothers to me and I am petrified that at the final battle, they will die” Niall explained, gently rubbing his hands over the sand.

“If the five of you work together, you can defeat the Fearsome Five. Niall, you have freaking healing abilities. If any of them get hurt, all you have to do is heal them” Paul reminded the boy.

Niall sighed “I guess you’re right.” Paul and Niall sat in silence for the rest of the time, watching the ocean rise and fall. Both of them had a lot on their mind. Paul had almost died and still needed to calm down from that. Niall needed to believe in himself and not block himself off from the world. He can’t let his father win. 

Harry opened up his eyes to see John Ryan, his old mentor, sitting next to his bed. “John” Harry said, his voice scratchy from being so parched. John jumped up when he heard his name, and quickly handed the boy a glass of water. Taking the glass, Harry downed the whole thing. “What are you doing here?” he questioned, knowing that John was scared of him “I thought you hated me.”

“No” John disagreed, “I could never hate you. Harry you’re the son I never had. I care about you a lot. You were the one that hated me.” 

“I never hated you” Harry admitted, sitting up in the bed. “I was just a scared kid who wanted to appear tough and act like I didn’t need help. I was so scared to let you in, I hurt you instead. John I’m not worthy of your love.”

“Yes you are” the man argued, moving his chair closer to the bed.

“I’m a murderer. I worked for the Fearsome Five and killed hundreds of innocent people. I even killed that soldier on the base. I am a monster that no one should ever love.”

“Harry you’re wrong. You didn’t understand what you were doing when you were little. Gemma manipulated you and forced you to do those things. You are a product of your environment, but you can change. And you did change Harry. You could have joined the Fearsome Five, but instead you flew you and your friends back here. You have redeemed yourself. You are not a monster.”

John stared Harry straight in the eyes and declared “Harry I am proud of you.” Tears flooded down Harry’s face after John’s speech. Harry never knew those were the words he had always wanted to hear. No one had even been proud of Harry. All the boy had been for his whole life was an embarrassment or killer. That sentence gave Harry freedom. He was no longer held down by his past. He could finally move on in his life.

“Thank you” Harry gushed, not being able to express his gratitude. A simple thank you was not enough for John. John deserved so much more.

John seemed to read Harry’s mind and responded “I know.” Harry smiled and leaned back onto the bed. “You need to rest” John pestered, seeing Harry yawn. “I’ll be here when you wake.” Harry nodded his head and closed his eyes.

When the news reached Coraline that the lads were back, she began searching for Louis. She had missed him terribly, and couldn’t wait to see him. What she didn’t expect to find was a broken Louis in the medical bay. Her heart instantly broke, seeing Louis so hurt. 

Coraline’s motherly instincts kicked in, and she ran towards Louis bringing him in for a hug. Rocking him back and forth, Coraline whispered soothing words to him. Finally Louis began to calm down, his sobbing had stopped and he was now breathing normally. 

Louis leaned his head against Coraline’s shoulder when he stopped crying. “What happened baby?” the woman questioned, running her hand through the boy’s hair.

Louis looked up at Coraline, new tears forming in his eyes. He wept, “the Fearsome Five murdered my mom and dad.” And with that, sobs erupted from the boy’s body once more. This time, though Coraline also began to cry, not for the parents but for Louis. She believed Louis too pure and innocent for this to happen too. She cried for Louis’s loss of innocence. 

Coraline rubbed Louis’s back, as he explained how he found his parent’s heads. The woman’s shirt became soaked with tears by the end of his tale. “Louis you need to calm down” Caroline hummed, wiping away the boy’s tears. “I know you are sad, but you can’t let it consume you. Right now by just crying you have let the Fearsome Five win. You let them get to you Louis. Sure you can’t bring your parents back, but you can make their death mean something.”

“How?” Louis croaked, his voice strained from all the crying. 

“By defeating the Fearsome Five” Coraline answered. “I know you are sad, but the others need you. The only way you can defeat them is if all you guys work together. Being sad and mopey won’t bring back your parents.”

“You're right” Louis sniffled, wiping away the rest of his tears. “I will make the Fearsome Five pay for what they did. They are going to wish they never messed with me by the time I am done with them” Louis promised, tears no longer falling from his eyes.

Simon found Zayn sitting cross legged in the middle of an open field, sulking. Flames surrounded the boy, as he screamed angry curses into the sky. “Zayn I thought I taught you to control your emotions better” the man scolded, disappointed with the boy’s actions.

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore. We won’t be alive much longer, because there is no way to defeat them” Zayn shot back, glaring at Simon. 

“What crawled up your ass?” Simon questioned, knowing this mood was very out of character for Zayn.

Zayn punched the ground and yelled “maybe I am upset, because my whole life I believed I was the one responsible for murdering my village. But I wasn’t. It was the Fearsome Five. I put myself down for all those years and stayed away from people. I thought I was a dangerous freak. My whole life has been a lie so yeah, I’m pissed. I’m pissed my family was murdered by the Fearsome Five. I’m pissed I couldn’t stop them. I am just really angry and I have nothing to take it out on.” 

“Take it out on the Fearsome Five. Take it out on the people responsible for the destruction of your home and the Earth” Simon offered, “but do not take it out on your teammates. Stop blocking them out and secluding yourself from the world. You need a family Zayn. We all need people to count on and Harry, Niall, Liam, and Louis are those people.” 

“What if I can’t protect them? What if they die just like my parents?”

“Those are all risks we need to take in order to destroy the greater evil. At least if you die, you die for a cause. The Fearsome Five are coming and they will kill everyone. How do you want to die Zayn? Do you want to do alone, because you cut yourself off from the world? Or do you want to die next to your brothers, knowing you helped defend the Earth?” Simon asked, hoping Zayn would pick the right answer.

“I will fight beside my brothers, until my last dying breath” Zayn answered, pushing himself up from the ground. “I will protect them until the very end.” 

Simon smiled “good answer. Now let’s go find the others.” 

On the way back to the camp, Zayn filled Simon in on what had happened in the past couples of weeks.

“Wow” Simon breathed out, when Zayn finished his tale “you lads certainly have been busy.” 

“You could say that again” Zayn laughed, as he thought about the past month. He couldn’t believe he had only known the others for a couple weeks. He felt like he had known them for his whole life. Now that the boys were in his life, Zayn didn’t want them to leave. 

When Simon and Zayn entered the tent, they were surprised to see Liam, Louis, and Coraline already waiting for them. “Harry is still asleep in medical bay” Liam reported, to Simon when they walked in.

Simon nodded his head and asked, “where is Niall and Paul?”

“Right here” Paul answered, entering the tent. Simon smiled at his friend, but was soon hit with the memories how had happened that day. His smile vanished replaced with a serious face. They needed a whole new plan on how to defeat the Fearsome Five, since Roberts had told them all the old ones. 

Simon indicated for the two to sit down. Paul took a seat next to Simon, while Niall silently stood in the doorway. Liam waved the blond over, but Niall seemed very content at remaining in the spot he was in. Zayn wasn’t having any of that at, as he stood up and guided Niall to the open chair next to him. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk these past couple days” Zayn apologized, to the three boys. “I shouldn't have taken out my pain and anger on you guys.”

“It’s fine” Louis remarked, “it’s not like I was much use either. I was too busy crying.”

“But that’s understandable” Liam reminded “I mean you had found out your parents died. You are allowed to grieve Louis.” Louis nodded his head. Niall had yet to say anything, since entering the tent. “Niall” Liam whispered, turning to face the boy “don’t shut us out. Remember you promised to try and be more open.”

“I won’t shut you out” Niall promised, “but right now I don’t want to talk about it, or even think about that night.”

“That’s fair” Zayn agreed, happy Niall was talking now “if you ever want to talk about it, just know we are all here for you.”

Simon cleared his throat interrupting the lads cute moment. “Let’s get down to business. We have much to discuss and plan” Simon declared, clapping his hands together.


	25. Practice Makes Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another update in the same week! Is it Christmas? Anyway I am sad to announce that the story is almost done. I'm glad you all stuck around this far. Hopefully you like the update and stay around till the end. Have a good day my loves and enjoy 5sos's new album.

Justin was bored out of his mind, waiting for the stupid Freedom Fighters group to plan a day to fight them. They had waited one month and still no news from the group. It was driving Justin crazy. "Can we please attack them now?" Justin begged to the others. He teleported next to the others and gave them his best puppy dog face.

"No, Justin" Katy sighed, rolling her eyes. "Remember we promised to let them choose the date of the battle. We want them to give us everything they have, so the fight won't be boring. Having one last epic showdown requires time and patience."

"Imagine if we attacked right now. We would destroy the Freedom Fighters in like 5 minutes" Ed added, wrapping his arm around Taylor. "Then you would be ever more bored, because they would be defeated so easily" Ed laughed, giving his friend a smile. "Once the Freedom Fighters are defeated there will be no one left on the Earth to oppose us."

Justin nodded his head, "you're right." He was still upset but he saw where his friends were coming from.

"I know what will cheer you up buddy" Josh said, jumping up from his spot. He left the room and came back a couple seconds with a tied up girl. She was around Justin's age and kept fighting against her gags. Tears fell down her face, as she was treated like an item not a person. "I found her in the nearby village."

"And I get her all the myself" Justin questioned, checking over the girl. She was fairly attractive for someone her age. Justin couldn't wait to get his hands on her.

"Yes, you can do whatever you want to her. There will plenty of more people like this when we defeat the Freedom Fighters" Josh answered, shoving the girl towards Justin. She fought against her restraints, but it was no use.

Justin licked his lips and grabbed the girl roughly. "Thanks Josh you the best" the boy gratified, teleporting out of the room with the terrified girl.

"I bet she won't make it through the night" Taylor joked, knowing how rough and crazy her friend can be.

Josh returned to his seat next to Katy. "I wanted to have fun with the girl tonight. I even got out all my favorite toys to use on her" Katy whined to her husband.

Rolling his eyes, Josh asked "would it make you happy if I went out and got you another person to torture." Katy nodded her head enthusiastically. "Well I can't say no to you. I'll be back shortly honey" Josh smiled, kissing Katy on the nose.

Ed followed his friend out the door. "What do you want?" Josh questioned when they left the building.

"I was thinking we check up on the Freedom Fighters, while you get Katy a new toy to torture" Ed suggested, because he really wanted to check up on the enemy. It had been a month since they had heard any news from the group. Usually Roberts would give weekly reports, but for some reason he had been silent this past month. "I suspect Roberts may be dead" the ginger added.

"I could have guessed that. I mean we did tell Liam he worked for us. They probably ratted him out to Simon" Josh agreed "we should check on the group, though. We don't want them sneak attacking us."

The two boys decided to fly over the base in Florida and spy on what was happening. Then after spying, they would find a new victim to bring home. Ed and Josh shot across the sky, flying at supersonic speeds.

As they grew closer to the base, the two boys slowed their pace down and flew closer to the ground. They landed in the dense forest when they came near to the base because they didn't want to be spotted in the sky. The two boys walked in the woods following the sound of voices. The closer they got to the base, the louder the sounds got. Whenever patrols would pass by, the two boys would dart behind the trees and hide.

The sound of twig snapping behind them, made Josh and Ed turn to see Simon waving at them. "We've been expecting you" he greeted, walking to the villains. The man's face was stern as he question "why are you in the woods?"

"Just checking up on you" Ed answered, seeing the two of them were now surrounded. Simon's soldiers must have been following them. Guns were trained on them in all directions.

"We didn't want you guys to think we forgot about you" Josh taunted, making his eyes turn red. The soldiers began to get anxious when Josh changed his eye color. Red meant his heat vision was on. Getting hit with one beam from his eyes meant incineration. "Simon I'd tell your soldiers to lower their weapons, if they want to live to breath another day" he warned, smirking darkly.

Simon signaled with his hands for the soldiers to stand down. "How did you know we were here?" Josh asked, his eyes still a dark red.

"I'll answer when I know my people aren't in danger" Simon shot back, staring at Josh's eyes. The boy hummed and made his eyes return to its normal brown color. When Simon seemed content, he answered "we have spotters everywhere. We saw you coming from states away." Simon chuckled, "you're not the only one with spies."

Ed also began laughing "I'm impressed. And here we thought you would be scared little babies, begging us not to kill you. I love the confidence. I can't wait to destroy it all and kill every single one of you."

"Well aren't you pleasant" Simon murmured, not very impressed with the threats from the boys. "Why are you here?"

"Just wanted to check up on the lads. I want to make sure they are doing okay" Josh smirked, knowing that he and his friends had practically destroyed them the last time they saw them. He still laughed, everytime he thought about Louis and his dead parents.

Simon snapped, "because of you guys, the boys won't even go into the same room as each other. What did you do to them?"

"All we did was have a little chat with them" Ed said innocently.

"Well this was a great visit" Josh praised, enjoying seeing Simon so ticked off. The two boys got ready to fly off, when Josh turned back to the Freedom Fighters. "We are bored of waiting to fight you." Ed gave Josh a confused glance.

"What are you doing?" Ed questioned whispering in his friend's ear.

"Trust me" Josh whispered back, winking at Ed. Turning back to Simon he declared "we are coming in exactly a week's time for the battle. We will show no mercy when we take all your lives. Be ready, and take your deaths honorably. If not, your death will be painful and long, which is fine with me. I like to draw out deaths, until you are the one begging for me to kill you."

"I thought you said we got to choose the location and date?" Simon questioned, sweat forming on his forehead. They needed more time.

Ed shrugged going along with Josh, "you took too long. See you soon buddy. I can't wait to paint this place in blood." The villains flew off and could be heard laughing evilly, as they left.

"Shit" Simon cursed, stamping his foot on the ground. "Summon the boys now, and tell them there has been a change in plans."

Simon hurried to his tent and waited impatiently for the lads to come. They were out in the woods practicing their powers. Simon might have lied to Josh and Ed about them hating each other. The boys had been getting along great, refusing to leave each other's sides. They even sleep together every night.

The boys were determined to stop the Fearsome Five, and wouldn't rest until they did. Simon was surprised how far along they came with their powers in a month's time. Louis, who used to seem so helpless, could now hold his own in a fight. He can control an army of animals and plants, while also taking on the form of an animal. Niall had discovered he can make ice, by freezing water with his mind. His deadly icicles were feared by the whole camp. Zayn had finally controlled his flames enough, to let his whole body be on fire. Much Zayn's surprise, he learned he could fly when his whole body was on fire. Harry could make his whole body become air, which was very useful in dodging attacks. Liam, the leader of the lads, managed to improve his earthbending. He could make more powerful and deadly earthquakes, that could be felt from states away. The boys were ready for the Fearsome Five.

The tent door opened, revealing a very sweaty Harry, Louis, Niall, Zayn, and Liam. They must have been working hard that day in training. All eyes were on Simon, as he told them "we were just visited by Ed and Josh."

"What" Liam exclaimed, sweat dripping down his face. "Why weren't we told? We could have helped scare them away."

"Is everyone okay?" Harry asked, which surprised Simon. The Harry he knew, would have laughed if someone got hurt or died. This Harry seemed concerned for everyone's health and safety. Harry had truly grown into a great person.

Simon replied fondly, "no one was hurt Harry." He turned to Liam and reported, "you weren't called, because I want to keep your training a secret. You'll have an advantage if they think you guys are still upset from the last meeting you had with them. So that is exactly what I told them" Simon proclaimed, smiling proudly at himself.

"Good thinking" Louis praised "now can we go back to practice? There are still so many animals, I need to master."

"We're almost done" Simon stated, "but I still have one more thing to tell you." The boys all leaned in anxiously awaiting the news. "The fight will take place in exactly one week."

Niall gasped and needed to lean against Harry for support. Harry went as white, as a ghost declaring "we are so going to die."

"Harry" Liam scolded, "we need to stay positive."

"I'm positive we are going to die" Zayn sassed, using Liam's words against him.

Liam glared at Zayn "thanks for the help."

Zayn stuck out his tongue "that's what I'm here for."

The lads began freaking out, all of them saying their concerns at the same time. Simon tried to calm them down, but he couldn't be heard over all the yelling. Getting fed up, Louis turned into a lion and roared loudly at everyone. They quickly shut up, as Louis turned back into a human. "Guys calm down" Louis pleaded, wanting his friends to listen to him.

"We can do this guys" Louis continued, "all we have to do is believe in ourselves. I mean, come on guys, we survived a whole army trying to kill us. We even survived each other and managed to go against all the odds and become a team. How hard can it be to take on five more people? Five people who are probably out of practice and overconfident. I believe in you guys."

"Louis is right" Liam agreed, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "We have been practicing like crazy this past month and I think we can take them. Sure it won't be easy, but it can be done. Now if guys want to stop acting like babies, we can go back out to practice and train for the battle." Liam heard murmurs of agreements from the lads. Harry, Niall, and Zayn weren't really convinced, but they would still give the battle everything they had.

Louis led the boys back to the woods, where they would for the rest of the day. Simon grabbed Liam before the boy left. "Come to my tent tonight with the others. We need to make a plan for the battle" Simon ordered, knowing Liam would listen.

Liam nodded "yes sir."

By the time Liam reached their spot in the forest, the lads were deep in training. Niall controlled a giant tidal wave, that took out a good chunk of the trees. With a flick of the wrist from Niall, everyplace the water touched turned to ice. On the other side of the woods, the trees were up in flames and burning at intense heats. If anyone walked in Zayn's path they would melt.

Harry lifted his hands in the air and took out all the oxygen from the area in front of him. The trees began to wilt away and die, due to lack of air. Next to Louis stood animals of all shapes and sizes. Louis was trying to see how many animals he could summon, before collapsing from exhaustion. Surprisingly enough, he had not reached his limit yet.

Liam watched the boys proudly. He couldn't believe how far they had gotten. Lost in his thoughts, Liam tried picturing what would happen if they won the battle. Would the lads all stay together? Liam really hoped they would. He had grown attached to each of the boys, and wasn't ready to say goodbye to any of them.

"Earth to Liam" Louis joked, waving his hand in front of his friend's face. Liam jolted out of his thoughts and grinned at the boy. "What were you doing?"

"Just got lost in thought" Liam replied "but now I'm ready to train. Pair up boys, you guys are going to fight each other."

"Why?" Zayn questioned, not wanting to hurt the others.

"Well all we have been doing was fighting trees. I need to see your fighting technique, and if you can hold your own in a fight" Liam explained, seeing Zayn still had an uneasy look on his face. "Don't worry I'll stop the fight, before it gets too out of hand" he added, hoping it would make Zayn feel better. "And if any of us get hurt Niall can just heal us" Liam continued, seeing the look of terror leave Zayn. "Winner gets to fight me" Liam exclaimed, hearing the boys groan in response.

The week went by way too fast for Louis's liking. Everyday at sunrise, him and the boys would wake up and work on their fighting skills. They would get a break for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and, that was all. The fighting would go on far into the night, until none of the boys could keep their eyes open anymore.

Louis couldn't believe how much they had all improved in a week. Niall mastered the task of fighting against an enemy, while also simultaneously healing one of the lads. The skill would come in handy during the battle, when the lads get hurt for real.

Zayn's issue with fighting an opponent was he always left his back open. He became too focused on the target in front of him, and didn't watch anything else. With help from Liam, Zayn learned to multitask.

For Harry his fighting skills were great, but his teamwork skills needed some help. Harry focused too much on his opponent to help the others. Harry learned to communicate with the lads and fight as a team. It took till the end of the week for Harry to finally become a team player.

Louis had to learn to actually kill. When Louis first met the others, he refused to hurt anything that was alive. Now ever since his parents died, something snapped in Louis and the compassion had left him. He seemed very eager to avenge his parents, but Louis didn't know how to deliver the killing blow. By the end of the week, Louis was killing the fake targets of the Fearsome Five.

Liam leaned back against the tree, watching the lads practice the day before the battle. Throughout the whole week when Liam wasn't with the lads, he was with Simon helping plan the battle. There were so many factories and so many things that could go wrong. The general idea of the plan was Simon and his soldiers would fight the Fearsome Five's army while the lads would battle with the villains. Freedom Fighters from across the world had come to Florida to help aide with the battle. The army was huge, and Simon hoped it would be enough against the Fearsome Five. Simon said he would try and help the lads the best he could, but he was no match for people with powers.

Today's practice would end early, so the boys could get a full night's sleep. They needed to be well rested for tomorrow. Tomorrow was the big day. The day where the Earth would either be saved, or doomed.

The five boys laid in their beds too nervous to sleep. The thoughts of the next day haunted their minds. "Are you guys awake?" Louis asked, breaking the silence in the room.

"Yes" Harry yawned from across the room. The others murmured in agreement.

Niall sat up and looked at the others. "I don't want to be alone" he admitted "can someone sleep next to me?" Liam quickly moved his bed next to Niall's, and Zayn followed suit. Harry and Louis joined them, and soon all the boys were sleeping next to each other or at least trying to.

"What do you guys plan on doing tomorrow after the battle?" Louis asked, speculating about the future. He cuddled against Liam, enjoying the warmth the boy provided.

"I'll go wherever you go" Harry answered, from the other side of the bed. "I don't want to be alone ever again."

"And you will never have too" Zayn promised, turning to face Harry. "We are a family. We will stick together till the end."

"What if one of us dies tomorrow?" Louis whispered, scared to know it might come true.

Niall shook his head, "let's try to think happy thoughts. We shouldn't worry about it till it happens."

"But if it does" Harry interrupted "I want you guys to know, that I love you. You changed my life and made my life worth something."

"Harry shut up" Niall groaned "you're not dead yet, and I would prefer to keep you alive. I don't want to imagine losing any of you."

"Then don't" Zayn hummed, nuzzling his head against Niall's shoulder.

The room filled with a comfortable silence, as the lads embraced each other. "I love you guys with all my heart. You are the family, I always wanted" Niall admitted, under his breath hoping no one was awake to hear him.

"Love you too" Liam mumbled, his mouth pressed against a pillow.

Zayn kissed Niall's cheek "love you too Niall." Harry and Louis joined in on the love train and told the blond they loved him too.

After the small outburst, each boy finally fell asleep cuddled up against each other. They fell asleep knowing they were loved and needed.

Simon came into the lads' tent early the next morning to wake them. They were going to have one last meal together before the battle. "Wake up boys" Simon ordered, fighting back tears. This could be the last time all five lads are together. It was breaking Simon's heart, seeing them so happy with life. Nothing good was going to come of today. The day would end with heartache and death.


	26. The Final Battle

Breakfast was awkward and silent, because no one knew what to say. The dining hall was usually filled with laughter, but the only noise that could be heard now was the sound of forks hitting a plate. The food was really crappy for a last meal. Liam wasn’t sure if he was eating chicken, or something that looked like it. It definitely didn’t taste like chicken. He could have sworn he saw his food move, but Liam didn’t say anything. He sucked it up and ate breakfast.

The mood in the air was tense, with the anticipation of the battle. Harry looked over at Louis, and commented “the weather is nice.”

Louis smiled and held back a laugh. He replied a simple “I agree.” Niall gave a small chuckle at Harry’s random statement. Here they were about to face the people that destroyed the world, and Harry is talking about the weather. 

Harry continued, “after today I say we have a panic outside and enjoy the sun.”

“I say we take a vacation” Zayn joked, eating another bite of the mysterious food. “We should have a real meal tonight. I would actually like to know what I am eating.”

“Yes” Harry agreed, mouth watering at the mere mention of actual good food. “We can have steak, and potatoes, and….”

Niall interrupted, “stop Harry you’re making me hungry. Don’t get me excited about food, that I will probably not eat.” Sticking out his tongue, Harry put another forkful of food in his mouth.

The rest of the dining hall seemed to ease up, as more and more tables started conversations. It was all small talk, but it was better than the silence. 

Simon, Paul, Coraline, and John entered the cafeteria and came over to the lads, each holding a box in their hands. “We wanted to give you boys a little something, before the battle to make your team official” Simon stated, handing Liam and Zayn a box. The others followed Simon’s lead, giving the lads their presents. 

Opening the gifts, the boys were greeted with uniforms. “We wanted you guys to be matching” Coraline explained “each color represents your powers.” 

“If don’t like them you don’t have to wear them” she quickly added when she saw the lads reactions. 

“These are perfect” Louis gratified, giving Coraline a hug. He knew she had probably stayed up the whole week working on them. 

Coraline proudly told the boys, “the suits were made of a special fabric that are fireproof and they are some-what bulletproof.” Zayn wanted to ask what some-what bulletproof meant, but he decided against it. She explained “everyone suits hold water in them, so Niall can heal you more easily.” 

Simon looked down at his watch and sighed, “I think you boys should get ready. The Fearsome Five will be shortly.”

The boys nodded their heads, and got up from their seats. Leaving the dining hall, Niall took one last look inside. Today could be the last day, he ever sees this place again. The walk to their tent was silent, except for Harry’s constant humming. Harry might sound annoying, but at least he was trying to lighten the mood, trying to keep their minds off the battle for as long as he can.

After arriving in the tent, the boys began to change into their new uniforms. Grunts could be heard from inside the tent, as the lads tried to squeeze into their skin tight outfits. 

Liam stood in the mirror staring at himself. The spandex he was wearing was a dark brown, like the earth he commanded. On the middle of his chest was an all black L. The suit was shiny and fit Liam perfectly. He didn’t feel constrained at all when he moved his arms. The fabric was light and felt like it wasn’t even there.

Louis’s spandex was a light green for the plants he controlled. His outfit had the power to go away and become one with his skin, when he transformed into an animal. Just like Liam’s outfit, Louis had an all black L on his chest. Louis laced up his all black boots, completing his outfit. 

The blue in Niall’s spandex matched his icy blue eyes. The fabric could withstand the cold and would keep Niall warm when he used his ice powers. The black N on his chest matched the boots, that were on his feet. 

Zayn’s outfit was fire red, and could survive when Zayn’s whole body erupted in flames. He was happy of that feature, since his clothes kept burning up whenever he went full fire mood. The embarrassment of being naked in front of the lads, still haunted him. No one laughed at him though. the first time it happened Harry looked somewhat impressed, while Louis smirked at him. Zayn can’t look those two in the eyes since that day. The black Z on his chest matched the others perfectly.

Harry’s outfit was a beautiful white. It was so pure and innocent, and did not match the boy’s personality at all. Harry is the opposite of innocent. The only thing not white, was the black H on his chest. Harry complained about the coloring, claiming he was going to stain it. The fabric though was weightless, which helped Harry fly around without much strain. When Harry would make his whole body become the air, his outfit would change with him. 

The 5 boys left the tent with a new surge of confidence. They felt badass in their new outfits. “If we are going to die, at least we’ll go out in style” Harry joked, pointing at his costume. Harry knew he looked good in his all white outfit. Niall rolled his eyes, but secretly agreed with Harry. 

Simon gave each of the lads an earpiece, so they could communicate with each other during the battle. “If you get hurt make sure to tell Niall, so he can heal you” Simon reminded the boys. After the earpieces were in the lads’ ears, each had a bucket of water thrown on them. The water was freezing cold, thanks to Caroline, who put ice cubes in it. She smiled evilly as the boys shivered.

The water stayed in the suits, which Niall could control. The battlefield had pools of water everywhere, so Niall could easily access his ability. Earth and air were everywhere, so Liam and Harry didn’t have a problem. Louis began to make his army of animals and plants, turning the campground into a jungle. The animals would go with Simon to help him. An army of animals won’t help much against the Fearsome Five. Zayn watched Louis get ready, since he didn’t need to do anything to get ready for the battle. He could make fire at will. 

Now that everything was step up, all they had to do was wait. They waited for what seemed like hours, until the spotters began to act frantic. They reported five figures in the sky and an army marching on the ground coming to the base. 

“It’s time” Simon reported, “good luck, I will find you all after the battle. I expect you all to be alive you hear me” he orders looking each boy in the eye.

“Yes sir” the lads say at the same time, though not of them truly believing it. 

Niall, Louis, Harry, Zayn, and Liam stood in the open field, awaiting the Fearsome Five. They could see them getting closer and closer. With each passing second, more fear crept into the boys. “Remember you have the ear pieces” Liam reminded the others “don’t forget to use them and ask for help.” The others nodded their heads.

“Since we probably won’t survive till the end of the day” Harry started “I just want you guys to know I find you extremely attractive and wouldn’t mind dating you’ll.”

“How is that even possible Harry?” Louis questioned. “People can’t have a five-way relationship.”

“How is any of this possible” he shot back. “In a normal world, people shouldn’t have powers, but yet here we are.” 

“I thought relationships were strictly girl dates boy” Niall stated curiously.

Harry shook his head, “no Niall. People can date and love whoever they choose. And it just so happens, that I like all four of you.”

“I like you guys too” Niall admitted, his cheeks becoming red from embarrassment.

Louis was surprised, he never pictured the blond saying that. “Same” Louis agreed, not wanting to hide his feelings either.

“How about we admit our love for each other, after the battle” Liam scolded, seeing the Fearsome Five were mere minutes away.

“What if we aren’t alive to?” Zayn said to Liam. “I fancy you guys as well and if we survive today I would like to try a relationship.”

“Why wait?” Harry questioned, beginning to get frantic as the villains became closer. 

“Because what if one of us dies today. Then the whole relationship is over. I’d rather not get our hopes up” Liam sighed, hating to be the bearer of bad news.

Harry frowned “you’re right but you guys all need to promise to survive because i want to date you.”

“I won’t any promises, Harry” Zayn said sadly. “I can’t make a promise, I might not keep.” Harry bit back a cry and soon felt a pair of arms wrap around him. 

Niall pulled Harry against his chest and they embraced each other. The three other boys joined in, and formed a large group hug.

The five boys hugged each other, not wanting to fight. This could very well be their last group hug. 

The sound of laughter brought the lads back to reality. “How cute” Josh mocked, landing on the ground in front of the heroes. Katy jumped from his arms and smirked darkly. Ed came down next holding Taylor.

“Are you ready to die?” Justin asked, teleporting next Josh.

Taylor took a step forward and said, “it’s not too late to join us. We can still be friends.”

“I would rather die” Louis answered, spitting on Taylor’s boot. 

“Your wish is my command” Taylor sassed, charging Louis. She tackled him to the ground and managed to land a few punches on his face. 

Justin clapped his hands together, “let the battle begin.”

Liam noted how chaotic the Fearsome Five fought. They didn’t form plans, they just attacked and asked questions later. They seemed to have real leader which put the lads at a little advantage. If they split up the villains then they could stand a chance of winning.

The sky became very dark, as Taylor conjured up a thunderstorm. She threw her arms up in the sky and made a lightening bolt come down on Louis, who was still on the ground recovering from the punches. Zayn quickly jumped in front of Louis, and used his body as a shield. The lightning didn’t hurt Zayn, since he was immune to fire. “Run” Zayn ordered to his friend, as Taylor got ready to do another strike.

Louis darted away from the group, and caught the eyes of Justin. “I’ll go after him” Justin told Josh, teleporting after Louis.

Liam quickly warned Louis “Justin is following you.” 

Ed opened his mouth, and used his sonic wave power on Liam. The wave knocked Liam to the ground, where he landed roughly on some rocks. Groaning in pain, he tried to sit up, but was hit with another wave.

Niall ran to help Liam, having a trail of water and ice follow behind him. Just as he was about to attack, Josh flew right into the blond and picked him up. The villain flew Niall high in the air, and then dropped him. As the treeline grew closer, Niall began to scream. A pair of arms wrapped around the boy, before he hit the ground. Harry had flown up, and grabbed Niall before anything bad had happened.

Katy breathed her acid breath at Harry and Niall, when they weren’t looking. Sensing the acid in the air, Harry quickly pushed himself and the blond onto the ground. “Cover your ears” Zayn yelled from across the field.

The second Harry and Niall did, they heard the muffled sound of Taylor singing. Since Zayn was the closest to Taylor, he was getting the worst of Taylor’s song. His head began to scream in pain. His vision became cloudy, and the only thing Zayn could do was curl up in a ball and hope for it to end. The frequency of her song, began to make Zayn’s ears bleed. It was slowly turning his brain to mush. 

The singing was cut short though, as a block of ice went over Taylor’s mouth. “I think it’s time to split the boys up” Ed suggested, hitting Liam with another sonic wave.

“Agreed” Josh said. “I want Niall.” Liam wanted to argue, he wanted to be the one to fight Josh. He wanted to kill the man who took his mother away, but it seemed Josh had his sights on Niall. Liam was too busy defending himself from Ed, to say or do anything. 

“No” Harry yelled, trying to protect the blond. It was no use though, as Harry was easily pushed out of the way. Josh threw Niall ahead of him, landing a punch square in his face. The sound of Niall’s bones breaking filled his ears.

Taylor took the opportunity to attack, Harry while he was still down. She conjured up another lightning bolt and threw it at Harry. Moving out of the way with only a second to spare, Harry jumped up. He forged a tornado and rode it towards the girl. Smiling, Taylor made her own tornado and attacked Harry. “Did you forget I have the power to make storms?” she asked in a mocking tone.

Wave after wave of sonic blasts, hit Liam square in the chest. He never had time to catch his breath and defend himself, before Ed shot another sonic wave at him. The fight was definitely not going in Liam’s favor. 

Zayn and Katy faced each other off. Katy would try her acid breath on Zayn, to only have him burn it up before it touched him. While Zayn would throw fire blasts at his opponent, only to have her acid block the attack.

In the corner of his eye, Zayn saw Liam was in trouble. Zayn waited for Katy to attack again, and once she did he ducked. The acid breath skipped over him, and went straight towards an unsuspecting Ed.

The acid hit Ed in his arm, causing him to scream out in pain and lose his focus. This bought Liam enough time to get his footing and retaliate. “Sorry Ed” Katy apologized. Turning back to Zayn she said “it’s on.”

Josh threw Niall to the ground, who bounced around like a rag doll. Quickly healing himself, the blond got up and surrounded himself with water. 

He flung icicles at Josh, trying to slow the villain down. Josh used his heat vision to melt the ice away, before it even touched him. The heat vision once aimed at the ice, became centered on the boy’s chest. Just before it hit his heart, Niall used water to turn the heat vision into harmless steam. 

Louis transformed into a cheetah while he ran. He knew Justin was right behind him, and gaining on him. All he needed to do was lead Justin a little further away. Just as Louis was about to reach the forest, Justin teleported in front of him. “Hi” he greeted, kicking Louis in the ribs. “You ready to play.”

Picking up the nearest rock, Justin absorbed the rock’s hard shell and soon his skin was gray and rock hard. He brought down his fist where Louis once was. The fist connected with the ground, leaving a gaping hole. If the boy had not moved his head, he would be flat like a pancake. Louis turned into a bird and flew away, before the villain could hurt him anymore. 

Louis landed on the ground a couple feet in front of Justin, and began to make a forest grow around them. Trees began to block Justin’s path as he searched for the boy. Summoning animals to join the fight, Louis had an army at his disposal.

Harry was growing tired of Taylor, and her stupid singing. Lifting up his hands, Harry bended the oxygen away from Taylor, taking the breath right out of her. She began to cough and gasp for air. Her eyes became bloodshot, as she clawed at the air, almost begging it to help her. With her last mound of energy, she struck Harry with a lightning bolt. The boy was too busy trying to suffocate Taylor to notice the attack. 

Pain filled Harry as he was struck by the lightning. Screaming out in agony, Harry fell face first to the ground. The charred skin around him burned like crazy, and Harry felt blood run down his chest. Just as fast as he was struck, he began to feel relief. Looking down at his burned black skin, he saw it become healthier and full of life once again. The skin was going back to it’s normal pale pasty color. A wave of relief hit him, when the burning sensation went away. He was being healed by Niall. 

Taylor regained her breath, and got ready to do the final blow to the injured boy. To her surprise, Harry jumped up perfectly fine and healed. “How?” she growled, at the now uninjured boy. Smirking, Harry shrugged and charged the girl. 

The jungle was beginning to get on Justin’s last nerves. No matter where he went, he always ran into a tree. He had no idea where Louis was because he turned into an animal. Any animal could be Louis. Many tried to attack Justin, but he would simply punch it out of the way. When his rock hard fist connect with the animal, they fell to the ground dead. “Louis, where are?” Justin taunted, beginning to hack down a tree in frustration. “If you come out now, I might spare you. I could always use a pet.”

Little did Justin know, was that Louis was watching him from on top of the trees. He observed that each time Justin teleported, his skin couldn’t be hard rock. The villain was vulnerable for those short seconds in between teleporting. A plan formed in Louis’s head, which could possibly take out Justin.

Zayn made his whole body turn into flames to try, and end his battle with Katy. Flying at the girl, Zayn got ready to deliver the final blow. Thinking fast, Katy held out her hand and soon all Zayn saw was black.

He blinked a couple times and threw a fire blast to where he last saw Katy. To Zayn’s horror Katy was no longer standing there, instead it was Niall. Everything went into slow motion, as the flame got closer to the blonde. “NOOO” Zayn screamed, trying to stop the fire.

Nothing Zayn did could stop the fire from hitting his friend. He felt helpless hearing Niall yell out in pain, and collapse on the ground. Turning his head, the boy saw Justin teleport over with a dead Louis, who had a knife sticking out of his chest.

Katy skipped over to Niall and used her acid breath of him. Niall squirmed around, begging her to stop, but eventually his movements became less and less. One final breath escaped Niall, before his body stopped moving. Falling to his knees, Zayn punched the ground. The Fearsome Five stood around Zayn and laughed at him and his grief.

Liam sent an earthquake towards Ed, knocking him to the ground. Stomping his foot on the ground, Liam made spiky pieces of the ground sprout in front of the villain. Ed quickly took to the sky before he was impaled. Earth chunks flew at Ed, courtesy of Liam. Using his sonic voice, Ed broke the pieces before they reached him. 

Opening his mouth, Liam observed Ed getting ready to sonic blast him. The boy pushed his arms forward and opened up the ground around him. The earth swallowed up Liam, protecting him from Ed’s attack. Now that he was underground, Liam could travel freely without having to constantly watch his back. 

“How you are guys doing?” Liam asked into the ear piece. 

Static filled the con, until the boy heard the familiar voice of Niall. “A little busy” he replied before going silent.

“I’m about to take out Justin” Louis reported “I’ll con you when I’m done.”

“Good luck Louis” Harry called out. Liam waited for Zayn to say something, but he never did. Growing worried, he decided to go out searching for his friend. The others didn’t seem to need any help at the moment. 

Appearing up from the ground, Liam looked around for any signs of Ed. When the coast was clear, he made his way to where he last saw Zayn. 

Liam heard Ed and Katy, before he saw them. Hiding out behind a tree, he listened in on their conversation. “What did you do to him?” Ed asked, indicting toward Zayn who was frozen in place, his body still on fire.

“I put him in his worst nightmare” she answered proudly. “I would kill him, but as you can see he is still on fire. If I go anywhere near him, I’ll burn myself. I’m hoping he’ll tire himself out enough, so the flames will go away.”

“And then you kill him?” Ed questioned.

“Exactly” she beamed, turning to face her victim once again. “You should see what his nightmare is” Katy mocked, flashing her friend an evil smile. “Zayn’s nightmare is watching all of his friends die, and not being able to do anything about it.” Ed smiled, glad he wasn’t the one under Katy’s spell. “Where’s Liam?” she asked, seeing that Ed was no longer fighting anyone. “Did you kill him?”

“I was close” he sighed, “but Liam ran off and I don’t know where he went.”

“Well once I’m done with Zayn, we can both go find Liam.”

Liam waited for their conversation to die down before he attacked. All he had to do was break Katy’s concentration, so Zayn could be freed from her spell. That was easier said than done. Now he had to find a way to fight both Katy and Ed at the same time to get to Zayn.

Stomping his foot on the ground, Liam surrounded himself with earth wearing it like armor. He charged out of the woods, chugging a large rock at Ed. The villain had no time to react, as the rock collided with his head. Falling to the ground stunned, Liam turned his attention to Katy.

The girl tried using her acid breath, but Liam’s earth armor was too thick. He squeezed his hand into a fist, and began throwing chunks of earth at Katy. She could only stop so many rocks, before she finally got hit. Falling to the ground, her hold on Zayn broke. 

Zayn fell down, now finally being able to move. He stared at Liam. “I thought you were dead?” he croaked.

Liam shook his head, he didn’t have time to explain, Ed and Katy were already getting up. Without thinking, he grabbed Zayn’s hand and ran into the woods with him. He opened up another hole in the ground, and the two boys jumped in. 

Louis climbed down from the tree he was hiding in. He couldn’t see Justin anywhere, and that was a scary thing. Using the plants around him, he asked them where the villain went. A snapping of a twig made Louis whip around. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, and heard a strange popping sound.

Looking down, Louis realized he had been stabbed by Justin. The sword twisted and turned in him, making Louis begin to cough up blood. His vision became blurry, as Justin pulled the sword out pushing him to the ground. Blood pooled around the boy, and he began to feel cold from the loss of blood. He attempted to stop the bleeding, but no amount of pressure on his stomach kept the blood from coming out. He was too weak to continue to hold his hand up. Every movement hurt Louis, and breathing became a lot harder. 

He was dying and no one would even know. Louis went to touch his ear piece, but was stopped when the sword went through his arm. “No no no” Justin scolded, shaking his head from side to side. “You don’t get to call your friends for help. You are going to die alone Louis.” Justin spit on the dying boy, and walked away. There was no way he could survive getting stabbed in the chest.

Louis’s breathing became slower, as his vision turned cloudy and dark. Closing his eyes, Louis knew this was going to be his last breath.

Suddenly, breathing became easier and the pain in his chest went away. His vision became clearer, and Louis’s body started to warm up. The color came back to his skin, and the taste of blood left his mouth. He glanced down at his chest, to no longer see the gaping hole. He was alive and Louis couldn't believe it. Niall had somehow saved him from the brink of death.

He sat up slowly, and a wave of dizziness hit him. Louis had lost of lot of blood, before he was healed. His arm still had the sword stabbed through it. Taking a deep breath, Louis pulled the sword out careful not to make a sound. He didn’t want Justin to know he was alive and well. 

Instantly his arm healed, and Louis was filled with relief. “Thanks Niall” Louis said, speaking into the ear piece. The blonde didn’t reply, which somewhat worried Louis, but right now he had his own problems. 

Louis knew Justin would catch him, if he tried charging the villain with the sword. Instead he decided to finish Justin off in animal form. Louis began to sink to the ground as he took on the shape of a deadly animal that Justin would never see coming.

He slithered over to the villain, making sure to not be spotted. Louis was one of the deadliest snakes in the world, he was a black mamba. The venom from the snake kills all who is bit by it. 

Lucky for Louis, Justin’s whole body was exposed, since his guard was down. Opening his mouth, the boy bit down on Justin’s ankle. The poison left his teeth, as then he bit down again and again. He put as much venom, as he could into Justin.

Justin yelped in agony, and got ready to attack the snake. He raised his hand, but was soon hit the effects of the venom. Falling to the ground, Justin’s ankle turned blue and purple. Justin felt his lungs begin to slow down, making it hard to breathe. 

The snake stopped in front of the villain, and transformed back into Louis. He smiled at the now dying boy. “Looks like you will be the one, who dies alone” Louis sassed, feeling no remorse or pity. “The normal human usually dies after 45 minutes, if they get bit once, but luckily I bit you about 10 times.”

“You bitch” Justin wheezed, his whole body began to turn blue. The organs started to slowly shut down in his body.

“You know, back when the world wasn’t destroyed, they could have cured you” Louis mocked “but sadly you’re going to die because no one can heal you.” Justin coughed loudly, as it became apparent he was having a hard time breathing. His body was shutting down and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

With his last breath, Justin promised “my friends will avenge me.” He died with eyes and mouth open, staring lifelessly at the sky. 

“1 down five to go” Louis remarked, turning into a bird to find the others.

Niall dodged another punch from Josh, and managed to collide his fist to the Josh’s side. The villain though was indestructible, much to the blond’s disappointment. How could he beat someone who couldn’t be hurt?

Ripping a tree out of the ground, Josh threw it at Niall. The blond rolled out of the way, but the tree grazed his shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he ran to the nearest pool of water and raised the water up. Josh may not be able to get hurt, but he could still drown or at least Niall hoped. 

All Niall needed to do was have the flying villain land on the ground and stay still. “Come and get me” Niall taunted “stop flying away, like a baby.”

“Everytime I land you freeze me in my spot. It is very tedious and childish, so I will stay up here” Josh answered his eyes turning red. Niall barely dodged the heat vision attack. He was getting slow, which meant the next attack, he might not move out of the way in time.

“Screw this” Niall yelled, freezing the water so it took him up to Josh. The icy column rose till he was staring into the villain’s eyes. He was about 50 feet in the air, when he jumped off of the ice platform. Josh was too shocked to move, as Niall grasped onto him. 

Unfreezing the ice on his platform, he made it form a sphere around Josh’s head. A look of realization hit Josh’s face, when he figured out Niall’s plan. He flung the boy off of him, and tried to get the water off of him. If the sphere of water remained around his head, he was going to drown. Bubbles left Josh’s mouth, as he thrashed around. 

Niall fell 50 feet to the ground landing on his back. He heard a crack, and knew he had broken several bones. Using his last amount of energy, he kept the water around Josh. The blond was about to heal himself, when he sensed the distress Louis was it.

Instead of healing himself, he healed Louis. When his friend was all healed up, Niall turned his attention to keeping the water around the villain. He could worry about himself later. The pain was becoming too much, but Niall ignored it. In his daze, he heard Louis on the ear piece thanking him, but he was too busy concentrating to reply. 

Josh tried everything to get the water away from his head. Whenever he used his heat vision to make the water go away, Niall would simply surround him with more water. Josh was losing air fast and nothing he was doing seemed to be working. The bubbles of oxygen leaving his mouth indicated the villain wasn’t going to be alive much longer. He was drowning, the indestructible man was drowning. 

With his last amount of power, Josh landed next to Niall, who still laid broken on the ground. He wrapped his arms around Niall’s neck, and started to choke the boy. The water still wouldn’t give, so Josh turned to hurting the blond. Maybe pain would make him release Josh from his watery grave.

The super strength came into use, when Josh ripped open Niall’s stomach. The boy cried out in pure agony, but continued to hold the sphere around the villain. Josh went to rip up more of the boy’s chest, when everything went black. One final tiny bubble left Josh’s mouth before he fell to the ground next to Niall, dead. Tearing open Niall, had used his last amount of energy and oxygen.

Niall gasped in pain, not being able to move. He couldn’t heal himself, he was too tired and didn’t have enough energy. It took everything he had left to reach his hand to his ear piece. “Help me” he whispered, tasting blood in his mouth. Glancing down, he saw his large intestine on the ground in front of him. “Oh god” he croaked, his vision beginning to get black around the edges. 

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there, bleeding out in the field. He felt himself start to slip away, when footsteps approached him. “Niall?” the voice asked.

Turning his head, Niall groaned in pain. “Help” he begged, knowing he wouldn’t last much longer.

“Why would I do that?” the voice questioned, grinning evilly. Niall blinked his eyes a couple times, to see the voice belonged to his father. “I’m actually quite surprised you killed Josh. And here I thought you were a weak piece of shit. I can proudly say I was wrong.” Taking a sword out of his belt, he stated “but I will finish what Josh started. The world would be a lot better without you.” Niall could only lay there, and watch as the sword came down to his heart. 

A scream erupted from across the field, making Bobby hesitate for a second. That was all Zayn and Liam needed as they ran towards Niall. Zayn shot Bobby with a fire blast, successfully pushing him away from Niall and forcing him to drop the sword. 

Zayn killed Bobby, by having the man burn alive. “You deserve a more painful death” he said darkly “but this will do.” Niall’s father died from the fire, his body becoming charred and unrecognizable when the flames went out. 

Liam sprinted over to where his friend laid. “Niall” he cried, taking in the horrific sight in front of him. “What can I do to help?” he asked.

“Put me in the water” the blonde answered, through gritted teeth. “And hurry” he requested urgently. 

Picking up the blonde bridal style, Liam gently carried the injured boy to the closest source of water. Niall’s breathing came out watery, and in short pants as the blood filled his lungs. Niall closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness. “Stay with me” Liam pleaded, picking up his pace. Once they reached the water, Liam jumped inside and put Niall in.

He held the blonde against his chest, as he lowered him into the water. The pool became red from all of Niall’s blood. Zayn came over after he took care of Bobby. “How’s he doing?” Zayn asked, almost scared to know the answer. His heart wouldn’t be able to handle Niall dying.

“He’ll be fine” Liam promised, hoping the blonde was able to heal himself. He lifted Niall a little out of the water to see how he was looking. Niall definitely looked a lot better, but he wasn’t fully healed. The intestine was back in his chest, but his chest was still hanging open. “He’s feeling” Liam reported to the worried Zayn.

Out of the treeline came Katy. She shrieked loudly, when her eyes caught sight of her fallen lover. Sobs escaped her mouth, when she realized Josh was dead. Her sadness turned into anger, seeing the three boys in the water. “You killed him” she accused staring at the lads. “You’ll pay for this” she screamed, coming towards the pool of water.

Zayn got up, and stood in front of the pool protectively. “You won’t hurt my friends” he shot back, venom filling his voice.

Katy threw back her head in laughter. “You won’t be able to protect them all.” Liam placed Niall in the bottom of the pool, and stood next to Zayn. He wouldn’t let his friend face the villain alone.

Screaming a war cry, Katy ran towards the two boys. Her acid breath connected to Liam’s right arm, making his skin fizzle and pop. He fell to the ground holding onto his arm, yelling in agony. The skin slowly peeled away, and left behind muscle. Zayn went full flame and picked Katy up. Katy’s whole body turned into acid, and the boy couldn’t help, but yell out. Not even flames could stop the acid from seeping into Zayn’s skin.

Ignoring the pain, he flew higher and higher and let Katy go. The look of horror on her face when he let her go, almost made Zayn laugh. “Where are your friends now?” he mocked, looking at her.

“Right here” Ed answered, soaring underneath Katy. He caught the girl with ease, and brought her safely to the ground. Ed turned to Zayn and shot him with a sonic blast. The blast knocked him out of the sky and Zayn to the earth. He landed harshly on his shoulder but other than that he was fine. Ed hit him with another wave not giving Zayn anytime to get up. Falling to his knees, Zayn felt completely helpless. 

“Leave him alone” Liam yelled, tackling Ed to the ground. The two boys rolled around the ground, but Liam had the advantage. Lifting up the earth so it made spears that would impale anyone pushed into them, Liam got ready to finish off Ed. 

Ed fought back Liam, and sonic blasted Liam towards his own spears. “Goodbye” Ed waved, giving one final blast. Liam flew backwards not being able to stop himself. 

The sonic blast stopped abruptly, and Liam saw an icicle sticking out of Ed’s chest. Sadly, ending the blast did not stop Liam from getting flung backwards towards his spears.

He braced himself for the pain, but it never came. Instead he felt a big warmth around him. Opening his eyes, Liam saw he was in the embrace of a grizzly bear. “Louis” Liam beamed, nuzzling against the boy’s hold.

Ed growled, pulling the icicle out of his chest. Niall was busy healing Zayn’s hands, which were a mess from holding Katy in acid form to notice Ed charge him. “Not so fast” Liam remarked, before grabbing a spear and ramming it into an unsuspecting Ed.

That seemed to do the trick, as the villain fell over dead. Katy took the opportunity to run off and hide. She needed to find the others and regroup. 

After Niall finished healing Zayn, he went and healed Liam. “I can’t believe we’re winning” Louis grinned, changing back into his human form.

“I know, it’s crazy” Liam agreed after Niall fixed his arm. “How you doing?” he asked the blonde, who a mere seconds ago had his chest ripped opened.

“Better” Niall answered.

Louis ran over to the boy, and kissed his forehead. “Thank you for saving Niall. I would be dead right now if it wasn’t for you” he gushed, wanting Niall to know how thankful he was. 

Niall hugged back and replied, “I won’t let anything happen to you, lads for as long as I’m alive.”

“Shall we find Harry and finish this god awful battle?” Zayn suggested, coming in the middle of the boys’ embrace. 

Harry and Taylor were in a standoff, both were equally matched. They stood on the ground watching each other, seeing who would make the first move. Harry moved his hands quickly, sending a gush of wind over to the girl. The wind hit her, making her lose her balance. Taylor screamed as she fell to the ground. Suddenly, the sky went black. She was conjuring up a great storm.

The wind began to pick up, and whipped Harry’s hair across his face. Taylor walked forward, picking up stray objects in her path. She held out her hands in front of her, as she released her storm on the boy. 

Harry easily deflected the attack using his air powers. Did Taylor forget he could control the wind? He turned the storm around, so it attacked Taylor. Harry flung rocks and other items he could find at the villain. The wind would make them fly at deadly speeds.

One rock collided against Taylor’s arm, drawing blood. Another hit her in the leg, and left a nasty cut. More objects came flying at the girl, and Taylor knew if things didn’t change she would lose the fight.

Just as the storm was about to reach the girl, Harry saw black. When his vision cleared he saw Gemma. The sister stood where Taylor once was, and the storm was approaching her. If Harry didn’t stop the storm, then it would suck up his sister. “Gemma” Harry screamed, running towards his sister. He had lost her once, he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“Help me Harry” she yelled over the wind.The boy quickly made the storm go away, so his sister could be safe. 

Katy ran over to Taylor to assess her injuries when Harry was put under her spell. “It’s only a couple cuts” Taylor reassured her friend. She glanced around looking for Ed and the others. “Where’s Ed” she questioned with worry.

Katy gulped and shook her head, biting back tears. “They killed him and Josh” she sobbed into her friend’s shoulder.

The two girls cried for a bit. “What about Justin? He could still be alive right?” Taylor hoped.

“Maybe” Katy responded not wanting to get her hopes up. 

The crunching of leaves, brought the villains back to reality. “They’re coming” Katy said, getting in a fighting stance.

“Let’s kill them all for Ed and Josh” Taylor growled “we will fight to the death.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad to have you by my side” Katy smiled, squeezing her friend’s hand. “But we could always use some help.” Taylor stared at Katy, as an evil smirk appeared on her face. With a flick of Katy’s wrist Harry came and stood beside them. 

“Don’t worry” Harry said to no one “I’ll keep you safe from the Fearsome Five Gemma.”

“Good thinking girl” Taylor beamed, figuring out that Harry would fight the other lads under the mind control.

Katy explained “when his friends come out they will look like the enemy.”

“How long will the spell last?”

“For as long as I keep my concentration” Katy answered. 

Out of the forest appeared Niall, Louis, Liam, and Zayn. “Are you ready to finish this?” Liam asked to both girls.

“The real question is, are you?” Katy shot back, running her hand playfully over Harry.

“What is Harry doing?” Niall whispered to Louis. 

Louis shrugged, staring at Harry. The boy seemed to be in a daze, his eyes were glazed over and he kept talking to an imaginary person.

Harry stared at the Fearsome Five in front of him. “I’m scared” Gemma said behind him.

“I won’t let them hurt you” he promised, standing protectively in front of his sister. 

“Kill them all” she told her brother. “Show them no mercy.”

Nodding his head, Harry ran towards the Fearsome Five, bringing with him an army of wind. He blasted the group with his wind, knocking two of them over.

Liam and Zayn flew backwards, taking the brunt of Harry’s wind attack. “We have to break Katy’s hold on Harry” Liam ordered, pushing himself up from the ground. Louis and Niall understood the plan, and went to attack the ladies.

Niall raised his hands up and had a trail of water following him. He whipped Katy across the chest with the water, sending her into a tree. Taylor stepped forward, and kicked the blond across the face. 

Louis took this opportunity to attack as he transformed into a lion. Pouncing on top of Taylor, he began to naw at the girl’s shoulder. A strong gust of wind blew Louis off of the girl. Harry began to suffocate his friend taking the air away from him. “No one hurts my sister” he threatened, his eyes red from rage. 

Clawing at his throat, Louis turned back into a human. His eyes became red and bloodshot, as Harry choked him. “Harry stop” he coughed not being able to hurt the boy.

Liam rammed himself against Harry and the boy released his grip on Louis. Falling to the ground, Louis gasped for air. He coughed and tried to catch his breath.

Zayn helped Niall up, and they both went to the girls. The blond threw water on the villains and froze them in place. Zayn took this opportunity and went to threw a blast of fire at them. The fire never reached them, because Harry blew the flames out. 

“Some needs to hold down Harry” Zayn groaned, growing frustrated. Harry broke the girls out of the icy hold and turned his sight on Zayn. “Shit” the boy cursed as Harry formed a tornado. “Looks like I will be the one distracting Harry then.”

Niall gave a thumbs up and lifted up more water, forming them into icicles. He threw the icicles at Katy trying to nick her. Katy, though used her acid breath to stop Niall’s attack. 

Taylor ran behind Niall and sang into his ear. The frequency was high enough that his ears began to bleed. He tried to cover his ears, but it was no use. The sound was ringing in his head, it felt like his brain was going to explode.

Liam threw a boulder against Taylor, cutting her singing off. Louis charged the girl as a bear, after finally regaining his breath. While tackling her to the ground, Louis made the plants begin to wrap around Katy. Tiny spikes grew out of the vines, stabbing Katy’s leg.

No matter how much acid breath Katy used, the plants still came. The more Katy struggled, the tighter the vines got. Taylor held her head, which was now bleeding profusely. She pulled her head back, and let out a blood curling scream.

The scream brought all the lads to their knees. Each one covering his ears, even Harry was effected. The vines loosened their grip on Katy, and she escaped. Katy set her eyes on Louis, and put him under her spell. Taylor ceased screaming and pulled out a sword.

She lifted it, running towards Liam, who was in a daze. Niall ran out in front of Liam and made his whole body ice. Taylor brought down the sword on Niall’s icy hand, as he held out protectively in front of him. The sword broke on impact sending the girl backwards. “I didn’t know you could go full ice” Liam admitted, looking at his friend in amazement.

“Me either” the blond admitted.

“You’d sacrifice yourself for me?” Liam questioned shocked by the blond’s behavior and selflessness.

“Of course I would” Niall answered proudly. He ran forward and blasted Taylor with his ice powers. Her whole body became frozen, when Niall finished with her. 

“Niall, duck” Liam exclaimed from behind the blond. He didn’t react quick enough, when he felt a giant weight land on him. With a grunt, Niall landed face first on the ground losing his icy body. On top of him, growled a tiger. 

In the sky, the battle between Harry and Zayn was taking place. The fighting consisting mostly of Zayn flying away from the curly haired boy. Zayn refused to hurt his friend, and running seemed like the only way to do it.

Katy began to unfreeze Taylor with her acid power, careful to not allow the acid to touch the frozen girl’s skin. Liam went over to stop them, when a T-Rex appeared in front of him. Louis was making an army of animals and using them against the lads. 

“Niall take care of Louis” Liam demanded “I’ll take care of the girls.”

Niall shot the tiger with a jet of water, sending it 20 feet in the air. Louis quickly turned into a bird to stop himself from hitting the ground. 

Turning to to face Niall, Louis lifted his hands in the air and made an army of killer animals. He pointed to the blond and yelled “attack.”

The blond forged an icy barrier around himself, to protect himself from the animals. He heard scratching and cracking, and knew his icy wall wouldn’t hold long. On the outside of the barrier, animals and plants of all shapes and sizes were trying to get to the blond. Louis watched from afar, as his army took down it’s victim.

By the time Liam got to Katy, she had unfreezed Taylor. Liam opened up the ground in front of Katy, and pushed her in. She fell ten feet to the bottom, and started to climb out. Flicking his wrist, Liam began to close up the opening. Not even Katy’s acid breath, could stop the walls from closing in.

She tried to put Liam under her spell, but it was too late. The walls started to crush her, slowly breaking her bones. Louis and Harry were too distracted to help her, and Taylor was still trying to warm herself up. This was it, Katy was about to meet her end.

Closing her eyes, Katy embraced her death. She would be able to see Josh again, and that made it worth it. As her body became crushed, she let out one final scream before her whole body was smushed. A loud pop could be heard, when the earth closed up. 

The icy barrier broke, leaving Niall completely exposed to the animals. The vines wrapped around his legs, and pulled him to the woods. His whole body became tied down, one blocked his mouth to prevent him from yelling to the others. The vines proceed to wrap around his neck and choke him. 

Louis snapped out of the nightmare, and looked around on the battlefield. He had no idea why there was an army of animals next to him, or why Liam was yelling at him. “Where’s Niall?” he yelled angrily.

Everything hit Louis at once, and he soon realized his friend was being choked to death by the vines. He darted into the woods and moved his hand swiftly, making the plants release the blond. 

Kneeling down next to his friend, he quickly unwrapped the vines from Niall’s neck. “Please be alive” Louis begged, taking off the final vine.

Niall sat up and inhaled deeply. His neck was red and irritated from the choking, but other than that he was fine. “I’m glad you’re okay” Louis breathed out, pulling his friend in for a hug. 

“I couldn’t agree more” Niall laughed “now let’s finish this.”

Harry had finally cornered Zayn, when he snapped back to reality. Giving his friend a confused look, he asked “what happened?”

“Too much to explain now” Zayn answered “just know you were under a mind control.”

Harry nodded his head, indicating he understood. The two boys flew back to the battlefield, and landed next to Liam. Niall and Louis came out of the woods, and went on the other side of Liam.

They surrounded Taylor and gave her glares. The girl knew she was defeated, nothing she could do, or say would save her. Taylor wanted to die, though. She wanted to be with her friends not live in a world without them. “Where’s Justin?” she asked, wanting to know if he was still alive.

“Dead” Louis replied curtly.

Taylor sighed sadly, and hung her head low. “Just kill me” she requested, not even putting up a fight.

“With pleasure” Harry said, cracking his knuckles. He bended the air away from her and watched her suffocate. The once blue eyes, became red and puffy from lack of oxygen. The gaps coming out of her mouth were short and scratchy sounding. Her face turned blue, as her lungs screamed for air. With one final groan, Taylor collapsed to the ground dead. 

The lads all stood in silence, staring at Taylor’s dead body. After a few moments, Zayn whispered “we won.”

“What?” Harry asked not hearing the boy.

“He said we won” Liam clarified not believing it.

“WE WON” Louis exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. “We won and we are all still alive.”

Louis picked up Niall and spun him around. The blond laughed loudly, a giant smile grew on his face. Harry and Zayn jumped up and down in a circle. “Guys” Liam interrupted “we still have to Fearsome Five’s army to defeat.”

“If we can defeat the Fearsome Five, then we can defeat anything” Louis smiled, putting Niall down. 

“Let’s finish this, so we can be done” Zayn said tiredly. 

The five boys took off to where their army was fighting the Fearsome Five’s soldiers. Hopefully the Freedom Fighters were winning. And hopefully they were one step closer to winning the battle.


	27. The Final Battle Part 2

The five boys ran to the main battle, entering the clearing. All over the ground laid injured and dying men, many of them were the Freedom Fighters. The bad guys were obviously winning because of their superior weapons, but the tides were about to change.

Liam quickly turned to Niall, and ordered “heal all of the injured Freedom Fighters.” The blond nodded his head, and bended water out of the grass. “Harry watch Niall’s back, to make sure no one attacks him while he heals” the boy barked.

“You got it dude” Harry answered, springing into action. He began to levitate the injured soldiers to Niall, so he could more easily heal them. 

Facing Zayn and Louis, Liam said “you two are with me. We are going to take out the remaining soldiers on the Fearsome Five’s side.”

Zayn snapped his fingers, instantly covering his body in flames, while Louis turned into a T-Rex. Louis started to form an army of animals, and plants to help with the battle. Soon the battlefield was filled with vines, that snatched away soldiers and choked them to death.

The Fearsome Five soldiers took notice of the five lads, and realized they were going to lose. They knew the supervillains were dead. but it didn’t matter. The soldiers would fight to the end even if it meant they would die. 

Liam, Zayn, and Louis charged into the center of the battlefield. Using his earth powers, Liam opened up a giant hole in the ground and pushed soldiers down to their death. He flung spears of earth at the bad guys, making sure to pierce them right in the center of their chest.

Zayn stood on the right side of Liam, his whole body on fire. He would shoot fire blasts at the men, making sure to burn them until they were unrecognizable. Some of the unlucky villains faced their doom when Zayn would touch them. The soldiers would instantly melt under his touch, since he was as hot as the sun. Puddles of used to be soldiers seeped into the ground, as Zayn fought the enemies.

Louis roared loudly next to Zayn, as he stomped toward his prey. With his giant dinosaur feet, he easily crushed soldiers. The razor sharp teeth aided in ripping apart all who stood in his way. Next to the boy ran an army of animals, that ranged from small to large carnivores. Screams could be heard from all across the battlefield, as the animals attacked. They showed no mercy, when they killed the soldiers. Louis made the trees join the battle, having them use their roots to grab unsuspecting men. They would be crushed to death, before they even knew what had happened. 

Gunshots could be heard, as the men tried to defend themselves against the Freedom Fighters. Liam yelled over the noise, trying to get all of the soldiers on his side retreat. He found Simon within the chaos, and had a short conversation with him.

The first thing that left the man’s mouth was “tell me you defeated the Fearsome Five.”

“Wouldn’t be here if we didn’t” Liam answered, stabbing someone in the chest who was behind Simon.

The man stood there smiling proudly, not being able to express his happiness with words. “Thank you” was all he could muster out.

The nice moment was short lived, because of the battle that was still happening. “Get your men off the field” Liam demanded. “The lads and I will finish them off. Just make sure everyone gets out of here safely.”

Simon nodded his head and yelled “retreat.” Freedom Fighters from across the field ran into the treeline, exiting the battle. Liam made protective earth shield around the fighters, as the bad guys opened fire on them. 

Zayn took this opportunity to send a wave of fire over an area, where the soldiers were standing. When the flames cleared away, all that was left was a pile of black dust. 

Many of the villains ran into the treeline, as well trying to take cover from the lads attacks. They climbed the trees and opened fire of them.

Niall stood up, cracking his knuckles after he healed the last Freedom Fighter. Many of the injured were carried by to the base, where they would be mended by the nurses. Niall mostly healed the one who were going to die from blood loss. He heard the cocking of a gun behind him, and shut his eyes. 

The gun went off, but no bullet hit him. He turned around to see the man, he presumed to have the gun, levitated in the air with Harry underneath him. Harry flung the soldier into a tree, breaking his neck on impact. “You done healing?” Harry asked, his eyes darting around the area searching for anymore enemies.

“For now, yes” Niall answered, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. Healing all those fighters had really drained him of energy. 

“Then let’s go join the others” Harry declared, grabbing the blond’s arm. The two ran and jumped in next to the others.

“About time you guys showed up” Zayn commented, a small smile forming on his face. Louis roared in agreement, his large tail swaying back and forth.

“Well, we were kinda busy” Harry chuckled.

The lads became surrounded, as the soldiers came out of the woods. Guns were trained on them in all directions. “Form a circle” Liam shouted “and watch each others backs.”

The five boys made a circle, each lad with the intent of destroying all their path. Niall’s side of the circle became a winter wonderland. All who walked in his sight was instantly frozen solid, or impaled by an ice pick. A snow blizzard formed, blowing cold breezes all over the field.

Next to Niall stood Zayn, who made his area as hot as the sun. If anyone stepped in his path, they would melt. Flames shot up from the ground, sucking away all the air. Smoke began to choke the soldiers, who were too scared to set into Zayn’s path.

On the other side of Niall was Harry. The boy took away all the air in his section of the battlefield. Those who got trapped with Harry would slowly suffocate to death, because once a person entered the boy’s area they wouldn’t be able to escape. Strong winds either blew the men straight into the no oxygen zone, or levitated them high into the air where they would fall to their death. 

Louis changed back into a human, as he commanded his army. He placed himself next to Harry and raised his arms up. With one single motion, out of the ground popped a pack of wolves, lions, bears, tigers, and several species of dinosaurs. The grass became littered with poisonous animals, that could kill a man with just one bite. Vines, covered in tiny spikes grew out of the ground, and would wrap around the soldiers dragging them to the ground.

Liam fought in between Louis and Zayn. In his area the was barren earth. If a soldier so much as stepped on his path, they would be greeted with a painful death. The ground could open up having them fall onto spikes. Or they could be simply crushed by large boulders. With a whole area of earth, the possibilities were endless for Liam how he wanted to attack the bad guys. 

Both sides were at a standoff. The villains knew walking in front of any of the lads meant certain death. The idea of retreating was not an option either, since the Freedom Fighters surrounded them. Simon had his soldiers to stand behind the enemies with orders of killing all those who try and run off. The woods was also filled with deadly animals with the mission to take down anyone who wasn’t a Freedom Fighter courtesy of Louis. 

The bad guys were out of options. “Charge” one of them yelled, sparking the others to attack. The air filled with bullets and other weapons, as the men raced forward. 

Many of the weapons were stopped by the lads, but not all of them. Louis’s side remained open to attack, since all he had as shields were animals. Bullets whizzed by the boy as he ducked onto the ground. “Look out” he screamed, when he realized the others were left wide open.

He heard a grunt from Niall, and then a body collapse onto the ground. The icy wonderland around the boy disappeared, and soldiers advanced forward. 

“Niall are you okay?” Harry questioned, his attention leaving the bad guys.

“I’m fine” the blond breathed out. “I just need to heal myself. I think I have been shot in the back.”

Harry’s grave mistake of letting his eyes leave the battle caught up to him, as he took a bullet in the gut. His hands went down to his stomach, and came back up covered in blood. Harry and Niall met eyes, before the boy fell to the ground. 

Crawling towards the injured boy, Niall quickly started to heal Harry. “Help me” Niall shouted, when he saw several guns pointed at him. The weapons went off, and the blond knew he couldn’t stop the bullets.

Suddenly, Zayn stood in front of the two boys, and melted the weapons. “I’ll protect you guys until you heal” the fire lad promised. “Liam, watch Niall’s and Harry’s back” he ordered. Pushing his hands forward, he sent a wave of fire toward the soldiers. Some jumped out of the way, but many of them were caught in the flames. 

Liam raised the earth up around Niall and Harry, forming a shield. He snuck a glance at them to make sure they were alright. He felt some relief, when he saw Harry all healed up and Niall fixing himself. 

On the ground laid Louis, with tears in his eyes. He was an open target because of the state he was in. Liam had to snap him out of the trance. A wall formed around the boy, so Liam could talk some sense into him. “Louis, you need to get up” Liam pleaded, shaking the boy by the shoulders.

“Niall and Harry got hurt because of me” he cried, not meeting Liam’s eyes.

“And they are fine now. Now get up and fight, or else more of us will get hurt. If you don’t fight, I will be too busy worrying about you to fight.” 

Louis nodded his head, and sat up. “Can you fight?” Liam asked. 

“Yes” he answered, transforming into an elephant with large sharp tusks. 

Bringing down the barrier of earth, Louis bolted head first into the attackers. The tusks pierced the men, who stood in his path. 

By this time Niall and Harry were all healed up. “Back into formation” Liam ordered, knowing how disorganized fighting can be if they didn’t stay together. If the lads went off on their own again, it would drive Liam insane with worry. Now that they were together, he never wanted them to separate again. 

Harry screamed loudly, forming a fast spinning tornado. The enemy clutched onto the trees and the grass to avoid from getting sucked up. The faster the storm spun, the more soldiers got pulled up. 

Niall had his whole body become solid ice to protect himself from bullets. Slamming his foot on the ground, the whole area in front of him became ice. Everything the ice touched, froze in place. Bad guys stood frozen in place, and Niall went up to them punching the ice and breaking it apart. 

Liam surrounded his body with the earth, to stop the weapons from hurting him. He punched the ground sending an earthquake to the enemies. The ground cracked open, swallowing up all who stood in the path. The shaking of the earth knocked over all who stood, including Liam’s own teammates. 

Zayn fell forward, losing his balance from the earthquake. Fire spread because of the boy’s flaming body. The flames carried across to Louis’s side of battlefield, killing his plants and animals. 

The vines that were attacking the bad guys caught on fire, and released all of their prisoners. Louis tried to regrow his army, but there was too much fire and smoke. “Niall, put out the flames” he called out, as the flames began to crept closer to him.

A wave of freezing cold water washed over Louis and the ground around him. The flames were put out, but now the boy was cold. “Thanks” he said, slightly shaking. 

Harry floated up into the air, to get a better view of how many soldiers they needed to fight. It seemed as though, they had taken out half of the enemies already. At the rate they are going, they would be finished the battle in no time.

From the treeline, Harry noticed a red light shining straight at Liam’s chest. Not even an armor of earth could stop a sniper. “Sniper” he yelled, sending a gush of wind toward the tree the person was in.

Just as the wind hit the tree, the gunman took the shoot. The bullet froze in place mere inches from Liam’s chest, because of the icy blast Niall sent. Once Niall saw Liam was okay, he skated across the frozen ground with two ice picks in his hand, ready to impale anyone who crossed him.

The fighting began to grow tedious. Liam knew the lads were growing tired, and would soon begin to make mistakes. A plan formed in his head to end the battle. He commanded for Harry to levitate all the boys, except for the blond. Meanwhile as the lads floated in the air, Niall would freeze everything.

Since it was such a large area to freeze, Niall could only freeze the feet of the soldiers and the ground around him. After the blond finished his task, all the soldiers stood frozen in place not being able to move. He missed about 10 enemies, but he got a majority of them which was good enough for Niall.

Niall used up all of his remaining energy, and passed out. Harry flew down, and caught the boy before he hit the ground. Laying down the blond softy, Harry joined the others. 

Liam turned to Zayn and Harry and declared “you two will make a fire tornado, that will kill these suckers. And Louis, I need you to catch the ones who got away. Some ran off into the woods.” Liam pointed the shapeshifter to where he saw the enemies run off. Turning into a cheetah, the boy set off.

“How are we supposed to make fire tornado?” Harry questioned, slightly out of breath.

“Harry, make a tornado, while Zayn shoots fire into it. Make it spin around the soldiers” he explained. “Hurry” he added, when he saw the ice begin to melt.

Shrugging, Harry forged a tornado, and made it spin around the men. Zayn stood next to Harry, and shot a continuous fire blast into the storm. Soon the whole tornado was fire, and Harry began to feel weak. Not only did he have to continue to make the storm spin around, but he had to contain the flames. “Keep going” Liam encouraged “it is working.”

Blood ran from Harry’s nose, as he gave the storm his full concentration. “Stop” Liam said, after a short time. “Mission complete.”

Harry put down his hands and swayed back and forth, before sitting down on the ground. He wiped the blood away from his nose and smiled. “Good job” Liam praised, patting the boy’s back. What was left of the soldiers was nothing, but dust.

Zayn snapped his fingers, making all the flames on his body disappear. “We did it” he smiled, sitting down next to Harry. “We finally won.”

The three boys heard a small whine, and turned their heads. They watched as Niall sat up, and rubbed his eyes. The blue eyes searched for the others. “Over here” Zayn called out.

Smiling, the blond got up, and went towards his friends. “Where is Louis?” Niall questioned, sitting down next to Zayn.

“Taking care of the soldiers who tried to escape” Liam answered, scooting next to the blond. 

Out of the woods, walked Louis, and Liam laughed “speak of the devil.” The boy ran over to the four lads. “How did it go?” he asked.

“Pretty good.”

“Did you get everyone?”

“Yea” Louis replied, nodding his head. He laid down on the ground and proclaimed “I could sleep for at least a week.”

“Same” Niall agreed, yawning loudly. 

They heard more rustling in the woods, and saw Simon and the other Freedom Fighters appear. Just as Simon was about to say something, a man pushed himself forward and threw a grenade at the lads. 

“Grenade” Simon screamed, running towards the boys. The enemy who threw the weapon fell down dead, with a bullet in the back of his head.

The five watched the weapon fly in the air towards them. It landed on the ground right next to the lads. Simon watched in horror as Niall, Louis, Zayn, and Harry stood up and got ready to jump on the grenade. Each lad had the intent to shield the others with their bodies.

Liam, the only one with common sense it seemed, used his powers to have the ground suck up the weapon. He made sure it went deep into the ground, so the explosion wouldn’t impact them. 

Liam stared at the lads with wide eyes. “You guys are so stupid” he exclaimed. “Why would you try to jump on top of a grenade?”

“Because I would die to keep you guys safe” Louis answered. The other three nodded in agreement.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Liam explained “you guys have super powers and could have easily stopped the grenade. But no you had to act all herotic and use your bodies as a shield.”

After Liam’s rant, Niall couldn’t help but laugh. “We really are stupid” he commented, his chest hurting from his giggles.

Liam frowned “this isn’t funny, Niall.”

“Why not?”

“I could have lost one of you lads. I could have lost you after all this. It would have broken my heart” Liam burst out, not being able to contain his emotions.

“And it would have been my fault” Louis cried, the guilt eating away at him. “I was supposed to get all the soldiers that ran off. I failed you guys, and it could have ended in one of us dying. I even let Niall and Harry get hurt, today.” 

“That wasn’t your fault” Harry reassured, walking towards the crying boy. “It is the people with the guns fault.”

“Besides” Liam added “I am the reason you almost got burned alive. I should be the one apologizing Louis. I gave you a big task without any back-up. I bet you, I would have made the same mistake.”

“Can we just have a group hug, and celebrate that we actually won” Zayn requested finally speaking up. “Let’s stop worrying about the past and focus on the future.”

The others agreed, and were soon embracing each other. Simon ran over to the lads, not wanting to break up their moment. After a little debate with himself, he decided he should. The man reported “I sent out some of my men to check the forest for the enemy, just to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”

The boys still hadn’t broken apart from their hug. Simon cleared his throat, receiving a glare from Liam. “Ummm Niall, we need you in medical bay” he requested “there are still plenty of injured people who need healing.”

Niall nodded his head, leaving the embrace. The boy looked completely exhausted from the battle, but was still willing to help. “We will head back with you” Liam said speaking for the others.

They all walked back to camp together in silence, none of them getting over the fact that they won. 

The blond healed the rest of the injured Freedom Fighters and wore himself out. The others had stayed with him the whole time. Everytime Niall looked like he could pass out, they would encourage him. Niall pushed himself, and managed to heal everyone. After the last soldier, the blond dropped to the floor. 

Zayn carried the sleeping boy back to the tent. He gently laid Niall down in the bed, and tucked the covers around him. “You did great today” Zayn praised, kissing the blond on the forehead. 

Zayn and the others also climbed into their beds, exhausted from the fighting they did. They laid down in their tent and slept, knowing tomorrow would be a whole new day. Tomorrow would be the start of a new life. A life without the Fearsome Five and constant fighting. It would be a life worth living for.


	28. Fixing the World

Liam woke up to see 20 people surrounding his and the other lads beds. Shrieking loudly, the boy hid himself under the covers. “Surprise” the figures yelled, opening up the tent so the light seeped through. 

Hearing Liam scream, Harry flew out of bed and got down in a defensive position. “What is happening?” he asked, surveying the area.

“Calm down” Simon pleaded stepping forward. “We just wanted to surprise you guys this morning to thank you for everything you did.”

Harry lowered his hands slowly, and glared at the man. “Not really the best idea to surprise people with superpowers.”

“Dually noted” Paul chuckled. “Come to breakfast, so we can celebrate.”

The gang of soldiers left the tent, leaving Liam and Harry to awkwardly stare at each other. “How the hell did they sleep through that?” Liam observed, indicating to a sleeping Niall, Louis and Zayn. The curly haired boy shrugged, and walked over to Louis.

“Get up” he screamed in the sleeping boy’s ear. Louis yelped, falling out of the bed. 

“Why?” Louis yawned, when he came to his senses. Harry didn’t respond, just grinned evilly.

Harry walked by Zayn, knowing he was horrible to wake up in the morning. Instead he went to the blond. Crouching down next to Niall, Harry said gently “Niall, time to get up.”

“Why does Niall get a soothing wake up call, and I get you screaming in my ear” Louis questioned, placing his hands on his hips.

“Because I’m evil, and like annoying you” the curly haired boy answered.

By this time Liam had fully woken up, and gotten dressed. “Who wants to wake up Zayn?”

“Not me” Harry responded. “I would like to live.” Louis nodded in agreement.

Louis smiled, “I volunteer Niall.”

“Wow, thanks guys” the blond joked. Sitting up, the boy shuffled over to Zayn. After he made sure he had a bucket of water, Niall got ready. “Zayn” the boy whispered, shaking the sleeping fire bender. “Wake up.”

A hiss left Zayn’s mouth, as he opened his eyes. The glare quickly left his face when he saw his friends. “Quick question” he declared, rubbing his eyes. “Did we really defeat the Fearsome Five and their army?”

“Yup” Liam answered enthusiastically.

“Good” Zayn breathed out, relieved. “I was scared it was a dream.”

The boys sat in a happy silence, as they remembered the events from yesterday. None of them could believe they won. “Get dressed” Liam ordered, knocking the lads out of their trances. “Simon wants us to go breakfast.

With that, the heroes jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. Zayn of course took the longest, wanting to make sure his hair was perfect. 

On the walk to the kitchen, Niall’s stomach growled loudly. “I must have really used up my energy yesterday” he commented, when his stomach rumbled again. Harry laughed loudly, throwing his head back.

Louis smiled to himself. It was fantastic seeing the boys interact without the constant worry of the Fearsome Five. They could finally be teenagers and care free. They could leave their horrible pasts behind and move on. 

The second they stepped in the dining hall, they were greeted by the whole army holding up a banner that said congratulations. Simon stood proudly in the center with Paul, John, and Caroline. “You did it boys” the leader praised, stepping forward. “You defeated the Fearsome Five. You did the impossible, and the world is forever in your debt. We are in your debt.” 

“Simon you are one the reasons the world was saved” Louis disagreed.

“Yea, don’t sell yourself short” Liam added. “You brought us all together, and never gave up on us.”

“You guys are all heroes. You were ready to give up your lives to save the world” Zayn told the army. 

Caroline started to cry, tears of joy fell down her face. Louis ran over to his mentor, and the two embraced. “I am so proud of you” she cried, rubbing the boy’s back. “I am so sorry about your parents, but at least you avenged them.”

“I don’t really see it as avenging them, killing the Fearsome Five didn’t bring them back. I see it as giving everyone a safe place to live. I killed them to protect the lads. I would do anything to keep them safe” Louis replied, breaking the embrace.

“Are you still angry about your parent’s death?”

“Not really. I am mostly sad, but I know the boys will help me get over it. Being with them makes me happy.”

“I’m glad.”

Meanwhile Paul and Niall were deep in conversation. “I am so proud of you, Niall” the man gushed. “You really came out of your shell. I still can’t believe how much you have been smiling. I was so worried you would always remain closed off from people.”

“I didn’t want my dad to win. He wanted me to believe no one could ever love, me but he was wrong. It just took me a while to finally see how much family and love I had” Niall explained, glancing over the boys. 

Harry skipped over to John and hugged him tightly. “I don’t think I will ever be able to forgive myself for treating you so shitty over these past years. I hope one day you can forgive me. But I just want to thank you for everything, and never giving up on me.”

“I could never give up on you Harry” the mentor responded, truthfully. “I forgave you long ago.”

“Zayn and Liam come over here” Simon called out, when he saw the boys were making no move to come and talk to him. “I never thought this day would happen” he admitted, when the lads arrived. “But I was wrong. You guys surpassed my expectations. Zayn, you finally let people get close to you. I know how hard that was, and I am so proud of you.”

The man then turned toward Liam and continued “I am sorry Roberts isn’t here to join us. He might have been working for the bad side, but I still think he would be proud of you. Roberts may have worked for Fearsome Five, but he did make one hell of a fighter. Try to remember the good times you had with him.” 

“I will” Liam promised, though not truly believing himself. It would not happen overnight, but eventually the boy knew he would forgive his mentor. 

By this time, the meetings with the mentors were done. The lads all met back up in the center of the dining hall. “Let’s eat” Simon commanded, clapping his hands together.

The sound of his clap, signaled for the kitchen workers to bring out the meal. “We went on a supply run, and got the best food we could find. We also killed some of our farm animals. Since it is a celebration, we didn’t want the crappy nameless food served.” 

On the silver trays, sat piles of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Niall’s mouth started to water, the second he saw the food. “You five get to eat first” Simon added, allowing the boys to step forward.

Niall didn’t need to be told twice and ran over to the food. “I have never had any of these foods before” he admitted, as he grabbed a plate.

“Me either” Harry agreed, standing behind the blond. “Gemma used to always talk about pancakes. She said that was one of things she always missed from the old world.”

The workers piled their plates with food as a sign of thanks. Liam looked over at Louis’s plate and gasped. “Are you going to eat meat?” he questioned, his tone humerous.

“Yes, this is a celebration. Besides it smells really good” Louis confessed, shoving a whole bacon strip in his mouth. The lads sat down at and table in the center of the dining hall. 

“I call all of your leftover food” Niall yelled, before filing his mouth with food.

Zayn chuckled, and cut himself a small bite of pancake. The second the warm soft food landed in Zayn’s mouth, he closed his eyes. His taste buds exploded from the taste. The other boys seemed to be going through the same feeling. None of them had ever had food so good.

The soldiers lined up and were served the food. Turned out, the kitchen made more breakfast than necessary. Niall’s face light up with happiness, when they offered the blond the rest of the food. The boy gladly accepted and ate like there was no tomorrow. “I never knew you could eat so much” Zayn teased, as he watched Niall eat his tenth pancake. “It is like I am seeing a new side of you.”

“I think we are all going to see new sides of ourselves” Liam clarified. “For the past weeks we have been beyond stressed, and constantly had to watch our backs. But now we can finally relax. I personally am excited to meet the new you. It will be like getting to know each other again.”

“Hopefully you like the new me” Niall worried, with his mouth still full of breakfast.

“Of course we will” Louis promised. “After all we’ve been through, I don’t think I could ever hate you guys.” 

Harry cleared his throat gaining the attention of his friends. “Do you remember what we said to each other before the fight?” The four boys slowly nodded their head.

Without missing a beat, the curly haired boy asked “so do you want to try a relationship?” He rambled on “I love you guys with all my heart. I know it may seem strange, but I think we can make it work. If we can defeat the most powerful group in the world, then I don’t think a 5-way relationship will be that hard.”

“I would like to try a relationship” Louis agreed, squeezing Harry’s hand. “I can’t imagine life without any of you.”

“A relationship sounds nice” Niall smiled. “I would love to date you guys.”

Zayn pipped in “any excuse to be with you guys is all I need. And I get the perk of kissing all of you. I’m in.”

Four sets of eyes turned to Liam, who had yet to answer. “Is this even a question. Of course, I will be in a relationship with you lads.”

“Best day ever” Harry proclaimed, his cheeks turning red. “I can’t wait to kiss you guys.”

Louis hid his face at Harry’s last comment. Who ever he kissed would be his first. 

The moment was interrupted, when Simon and Paul sat down. “So what do you guys plan on doing, now that the Fearsome Five is dead?” Paul questioned, a small smile on his face. 

“Taking these boys on a proper date” Liam answered, honestly. 

“Well that might need to be put on hold” Simon sighed, sadly.

“What” Louis gasped, fear taking hold of him. They were supposed to be done fighting.

“I thought we defeating the Fearsome Five meant we are done” Zayn explained, giving Louis a reassuring glance.

Simon shook his head no. “You might have saved the world, but now it is time to fix it. The Fearsome Five still have soldiers all over the planet, taking over cities. The Earth is in shambles. The water is populated and almost undrinkable, the air is full of smog, the ground is barren, the buildings lay destroyed on the ground and the plants and many animals seemed to have died off. You boys are the only people who can fix the world, and bring back humanity.”

The man frowned “I wouldn’t ask you lads to do this unless I really needed you to. My army can take on some of the Fearsome Five soldiers, but not all of them. Besides, my men don’t really have the power to make plants and clean out the water.” 

Paul quickly stepped in and added “I know we are asking a lot. We would both understand it if you said no. I for one, think you lads need a vacation. There will be no hard feelings, if you choose not to take on the assignment.”

The five boys stared at each other with a loss of words. “Can we have a minute to discuss what we want to do?” Zayn requested, knowing they needed to talk it out.

The second the men walked away Louis muttered “I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t think I can take it anymore.”

“But we are the only ones, who can fix the world” Liam countered, hating the betrayed expression on Louis’s face.

“I’m sorry Louis, but I agree with Liam” Zayn declared, not meeting the boy’s eyes.

“Well, I agree with Louis” Harry spat, even though he truly didn’t care.

Niall finally spoke up being the deciding factor. “I say if we do this, we must lay down some ground rules. We cannot be separated, and our main property should be fixing the Earth not fighting.” Louis still didn’t look convinced. “Besides” the blond continued “we can finally travel the world. But I won’t do this if not everyone is on board. I’d rather not be away from you lads.”

“Fine I’ll do it” Louis grudgingly agreed “but I don’t want to fight unless we have too.”

“Deal” Liam cheered, shaking Louis’s hand.

After their discussion, the 5 boys told Simon their deal. The man didn’t seem pleased at the no fighting part, but he was still glad they agreed to help. 

At the end of the day, the lads were officially assigned their mission. They were ordered to travel to each country that Simon wrote down and help clean it up. The man gave them a satellite phone so they could remain in constant contact, incase anything went bad. Once the lads completed their mission, they were done and could go anywhere they wanted. 

The lads on their own decided once they finished the task, they would go to every country or at least try too. The people of the Earth needed heroes and that was what the lads intended to be.

It was decided they would set off on their journey at the end of the next day. But first Liam and Zayn wanted to take the others on a date. 

They snuck off to the meadow, and set up a picnic. Zayn grabbed a large blanket, and set it down on the top of a hill. He made sure it would have the perfect view of the sun when it set. Liam on the other hand made all the food. Tonight was going to be perfect.

“Niall, Louis, Harry you need to follow me. Liam is hurt” Zayn lied, trying to get the boys to follow him.

The three dropped everything they were doing and sprinted off after Zayn. “What happened?” Louis asked, as they ran deep into the woods. 

“I’ll explain when we find him” Zayn answered, not turning around. 

Entering the clearing, the three running boys were surprised to see Liam uninjured. “I’m confused” Harry remarked, when he noticed the blanket.

“Well me and Liam thought before our mission, we should have a date” Zayn explained, guiding his dates to the blanket. 

Niall sat down on the blanket, and instantly crawled next to Liam. He rested his head against the boy’s shoulder. “I love this” the blond gushed.

“You’ll love it even more, when you see what is in the basket” Liam laughed, grabbing the item. He opened it up, revealing piles of food. Niall’s eyes grew in excitement, when the smell of the food hit him.

Before Liam could take the dinner out of the basket, Harry ran over and took it. “The food is mine” he declared, grinning evilly. 

The boy then proceeded to run down the hill followed by the other four. Niall froze the ground in front of Harry, making him slip and fall. “Louis help” Harry pleaded.

Louis morphed into a hawk, snatching the basket with his claws. “When I get my hands on you, you are dead” Niall joked, not being able to stop his giggles. “I’ll get Harry.”

“Looks like Zayn and I will catch Louis, then” Liam planned, surprised by the amount of fun he was having. 

Louis landed on top of tree, laughing loudly or more like squawking loudly. Liam began to climb the tree, but was quickly pulled off by a vine. Hanging upside down, the vine swung him back and forth. “No fair” he whined, as his back smacked against tree bark.

Shaking his head, Zayn burned away the plant holding Liam. With a snap of his finger, the boy’s whole body became erupted in flames. He took to the sky, and flew straight towards Louis.

The bird gawked in shock, and accidentally dropped the basket. Luckily Liam saw the food begin to fall, and caught it. Zayn landed on the branch next to Louis, making the flames go away. Tapping the boy lightly on the shoulder, Zayn said “got you.” 

Niall on the other hand froze the bottom half of Harry, so he couldn’t escape. He walked over to the frozen boy slowly. “I wonder if you are ticklish” the blond speculated, bringing his hands up. 

“No” Harry cried, attempting to cross his arms to keep his armpits safe. 

With ease, Niall moved Harry’s hands away. He tickled the boy, enjoying the sound of Harry’s laugh. Harry squirmed around, but he couldn’t escape. Soon tears ran down his face from the tickling. “Stop” he begged, in between laughs.

“Never” Niall smiled, making his hands move faster. 

What Niall didn’t see was Zayn sneaking up behind him. Simply poking his side, made the blond squeal in delight. “Looks like Niall might be ticklish as well” Zayn observed, tackling him to the ground. 

Pinning the blond down, Zayn started to give the boy a taste of his own medicine. His laugh was music to Zayn’s ears, and he could have sworn his heart melted. After a short time, Niall breathed out “if you don’t stop tickling me, I might pee myself.”

“Eww” Zayn shrieked, pushing himself away from the blond. 

“I think, I may have peed a little” Harry admitted, still trapped in the ice. “Can you please unfreeze me Niall?”

“Not if you peed.”

“Well it is your fault.”

“I disagree with that statement.”

“Niall I swear to god if you don’t unfreeze me, I will tickle you like there is no tomorrow.”

Louis and Liam stood on top of the hill, gazing the scene happily. “I could get used to this” Liam whispered. Louis hummed in agreement, and for the first time in a long time he felt truly happy. He felt hopeful of the future.

Niall finally unfroze Harry, but not before soaking him in ice cold water. The second his legs were freed he chased after the blond. “You are so going to get” he screamed, brushing back his soaking wet hair.

Niall hid behind Liam, hoping the boy would protect him. “Guys, can we have a time out? Let’s eat dinner, then you can go back to chasing each other. Deal?”

“Deal” Harry agreed. “But I will be getting my revenge after we eat.”

After getting a plate full of food, they all sat down. Niall made sure to sit far away from Harry in fear of his revenge. “What were you guys like as kids?” Liam asked, curious to know the answer.

“I was sarcastic little kid who never listened to their parents. The amount of sass I had as a child used to drive everyone crazy. But I also enjoyed making people laugh. Whenever I made my mom smile, I felt like a superhero” Louis remembered, a sad smile formed on his face as he thought about his mom and dad.

“I loved playing with my brother. I would follow him everywhere, and do everything he did. My brother and I used to play pranks on our friends and mom. When my father used to be nice everything was perfect. I was a very loud kid. My laugh could be heard in the whole castle. I used to love playing games, and was just an all around happy kid” Niall explained, after Louis finished. 

Zayn sighed not sure what to say. “I was quiet and reserved, which isn’t really surprising. My parents could leave me for hours, and I would be happy as long as they left me a pen and paper. Drawing was my passion. I used to not be able to go one day without sketching something. I was fine being alone, until I met you guys.”

Liam patted Zayn’s knee taking note of how he was going to get the boy a sketch book. “For me all I cared about as a kid was my family. I wanted to be big and strong in order to protect them. But I never fooled my parents. I pretended to be tough, but I was really just a puppy.”

“I agree that you are a puppy. You are cute and kind just like a puppy” Louis spoke up. 

“Thanks” Liam replied blushing slightly. 

Harry smiled when it was his turn. “Well when I wasn’t murdering innocent people, I loved to bake. Gemma and I would go into abandoned apartment buildings and play house. She would be the mommy, and her new boyfriend of the week would be daddy. I would either be their son or the cat. And if Gemma happened to be single that week it would just be us two. We would prepare a meal in the kitchen, most of the time it was imaginary. And then we would run around the apartment and play. I would unleash my power and Gemma and I would float around. Then we would destroy everything in the apartment.” Harry leaned back and chuckled “those were good times.” 

“I hope one day we will be able to bring out the old you’s, except for you Harry. We don’t want to destroy everything” Liam confessed.

“Aww” Harry whined like a child. “But I like breaking things.”

“That is not healthy, Harry” Louis scolded, rolling his eyes.

Liam interrupted “back to what I was saying I hope we can bring out your old personalities.” 

“I would like that” Niall agreed. “The old me, where I didn’t have to worry about dying or defeating the Fearsome Five. But I am still scared of dying.”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore, though” Harry said, confused as to why Niall was still worried.

Louis added “we might have defeated the bad guys, but we will still be haunted by the past. I know for a fact I will still be sad, and hung up by my parents death. Overtime, I think we will finally go back to our old personalities.”

“Besides we will never truly be safe, until all the Fearsome Five soldiers are dead” Zayn noted. 

“Way to be a downer, Zayn” Harry teased playfully pushing the boy. 

During the conversation, Harry had managed to sneak behind the unsuspecting blond. Screaming loudly, he tackled Niall to the ground, pinning him down. What Harry did though, was something Niall could have never predicted.

Instead of being tickled, Niall felt a pair of lips go against his. Harry was kissing him. Niall reacted quickly, by closing his eyes and melting into the kiss. It was sweet and passionate, with neither boy opening their mouth. 

Harry pulled away first, and stared lovingly at Niall. The others groaned in jealousy, but ended up kissing each other.

The rest of the date was spent with each of lads kissing each other. Things got heated at one point between Zayn and Louis, where they both opened their mouths. By the end of the night, each lad came back to camp with swollen lips. 

They ignored the weird stares, they received as they walked hand in hand back to the tent. “We should do this more often” Louis said, laying down in his bed.

“How about every night” Liam promised. “Now get some sleep, we have a long journey tomorrow.” And with that the boys all fell asleep, each replaying the events of the date over and over again in their head.

In the morning, Simon helped the five boys get packed up. He gave them the satellite phone with more than enough batteries to last them 20 years. “Please be careful” the man begged, not wanting to lose any of the boys.

“We promise” Harry sighed, rolling his eyes.

Liam proceeded to break off a peice of earth big enough for each of the lads to stand comfortably on. Harry would then leviate the earth until they made it to their first destination. 

After Simon went over the plan for the hundredth time and made them promise to call every night, he waved them off. 

Simon and Paul watched the heroes fly away, until they were a tiny speck in the distance. “Today is the day, earth finally got hope back. Today is the day, we finally won. Imagine what the world will be like, once everything is healed” Simon pictured, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I just hope, I am alive to see the change” Paul joked.

“I have full faith in those boys that they will fix the world in our lifetime. As long as they stick together and don’t let their guard down, they will be fine” Simon stated, turning towards his tent. He needed to plan his attack on the remaining Fearsome Five bases. 

The 5 boys headed to their first country, filled with excitement and nervousness. They weren’t sure what awaited them in the world. Could there be another evil or would they be met with open arms. Only time would tell. But each were sure that they would keep each other safe. 

Liam glanced once more at the camp. Sighing he looked forward and said “who's ready for a new adventure?”

“Me” Harry answered, excitedly. “I always wanted to travel the world.”

“This right here is a new chapter of our lives together” Zayn declared, sitting down the earth.

“And hopefully it is a good chapter” Niall agreed, going next to Zayn. “But life is unexpected so who knows really what the future holds.”

“All I know is nothing can be as bad as the Fearsome Five” Louis noted, recalling just how hard the battle was.

Pulling out the map, Niall surveyed the area and made sure they were going in the right direction. “Goodbye” he whispered when they officially left Florida. “And hello new life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys this is the end. Thank you for joining me on this journey. You guys are the best readers in the whole world. I wish I could thank you all individually. Thank you again for sticking by me with.
> 
> Anyway I have one last request. It would mean the world to me if you checked out my youtube channel and possibly subscribed to it, Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTSObuYcwb4ewXhaKdl7TMA


	29. Sequel

Hey so I am in the midst of writing a sequel for this story. It is called Protectors of Earth. And you should check it out if you want.


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